MONTREAL -- A new drive-thru COVID-19 screening testing facility opened Monday at Place des Festivals in downtown Montreal.
It will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and people can go by car or on foot without an appointment.
The city notes it will close roads in the area, including Maisonneuve Boulevard, to allow cars to line up east to west; drivers will be triaged in their vehicles.
If, during preliminary screening, someone presents symptoms of COVID-19 (fevers, coughs or difficulty breathing) they will be directed to the testing facility, where there will be place for them to park their vehicles.
If they don’t need to be tested, the person will be allowed to leave.
Test results will be available within 24 to 72 hours and officials estimate they will be able to perform around 2,000 to 2,500 tests each day.
Health officials are also ensuring that overcrowding will be kept to a minimum following complaints about the testing facility at Hôtel Dieu Hospital, where people say they often crowded together in the entrance while waiting to be tested.
The hospital will now be closed for appointments; it may still be used for testing within the hospital network.
Other facilities, including Sainte-Justine Hospital and the site in Beaconsfield, in Montreal's West Island, will remain open.
