COVID-19 screening site to open at FedEx Field on Monday in Landover, officials say
LANDOVER, Md. (FOX 5 DC) - Officials are putting the finishing touches on a COVID-19 screening site that will open Monday morning at FedEx Field in Landover.
“It’s so important,” Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks said Friday evening. “We don’t know what we will see in terms of surge of cases, but we have to be prepared. We’re in this for the long haul, for however long it will take and whatever it will take, to make sure we can care for the people who will need us.”
But you can’t just show up to be screened. Even if a prospective patient has a prescription from a doctor, they still have to follow stringent procedures to make an appointment.
First, people need to call the county health department’s coronavirus hotline at 301-883-6627. They’ll speak with a telehealth medical professional who will ask questions to see if the caller meets CDC testing requirements. If so, the caller will get an appointment time and an appointment number — for a Monday, Wednesday, or Friday between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
When a person arrives at the screening site, law enforcement will tell them where to park and when to exit their vehicle. Then they’ll eventually be taken to a tent based on their symptoms. If the person meets the CDC’s testing requirements, they’ll be taken to a testing tent. If they don’t meet the requirements, they won’t be tested. Instead, they’ll get instructions on home self-care and they’ll be told whether they need to self-isolate.
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“When you don’t have a sufficient number of tests to test the entire community, you have to ration those tests, and those tests should be used only on patients where it would actually make a difference in the outcome of their medical care and medical decision making,” explained Diane Young, the associate director of the Prince George’s County Health Department’s family health services division.
Alsobrooks said the FedEx Field screening site could be expanded over time. Currently, only about 100 patients will be screened per day.