At least 983 new coronavirus deaths and 74,410 new cases were reported in the United States on Oct. 27. Over the past week, there has been an average of 73,094 cases per day, an increase of 39 percent from the average two weeks earlier.
CVS ongoing effort to increase access to COVID-19 testing and help slow the spread of the virus; today announced plans to expand COVID-19 testing services currently offered at select CVS Pharmacy locations to include rapid-result testing nearly 1,000 sites by the end of the year.
Since March, CVS Health has administered more than 5 million COVID-19 tests and currently manages more than 4,000 drive-thru test sites at CVS Pharmacy locations in 33 states. Most results from these existing test sites are generally available within 2 to 3 days. The company is adapting some of these sites and adding new locations to deliver rapid results at nearly 1,000 sites by the end of the year.
Patients must register in advance at CVS.com to schedule an appointment. Testing is also available for patients ages 12 to 17; a parent or legal guardian must complete the online registration and must accompany minors ages 15 and younger for testing.
When arriving for testing, patients are asked to follow signage or the instructions of the staff onsite. Procedures vary by location. Patients may be directed to stay in their vehicle and proceed to a designated testing structure located in the parking lot or, in minimal locations, to enter a CVS store through a doorway specifically allocated for this purpose. Patients will be provided with a test kit, given instructions, and a CVS Health team member will observe the self-swab process. Patients will be directed to wait outside the store in their vehicle for results. From the swab collection to the delivery of the results, the process will generally take approximately 30 minutes.
Patients who access rapid-result testing and receive a negative COVID-19 result will have the opportunity to schedule an appointment at the on-site MinuteClinic for further assessment and determine if a rapid-result test for flu and strep would be appropriate. The MinuteClinic provider will then provide counsel on a treatment plan and prescribe medications if clinically appropriate.
Nearly 100 of the planned rapid-result test sites will be operational at select CVS Pharmacy locations in Indiana this week. Patients seeking a COVID-19 test at CVS Pharmacy can find a complete list of locations and options offered here.
As of today, there have been 2,062 new coronavirus cases, and 51 new deaths are reported.