COVID-19 drive-through site to open Friday at Walmart parking lot

A COVID-19 drive-through testing site will open Friday in the parking lot of the Walmart store on E. Admiral Doyle Drive in New Iberia. 

The site is supported by Walmart, Quest Diagnostics and state and local officials. It will test adults who meet the Centers for Disease Control, state and local guidelines for should be tested, including first responders, health care providers and others with symptoms of COVID-19, as well as those people in high-risk groups without symptoms. 

“Walmart is part of the community, and we are proud to help support the expansion of COVID-19 testing in New Iberia during this unprecedented time,” said Tice White, Walmart Public Affairs Director for Louisiana. “We are grateful to our associates who keep our stores running, our pharmacists who support these testing sites, and to Quest Diagnostics and local officials as we work together to open the site and help our community.”

The site will be open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays weekly from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., weather permitting.

Individuals must be 18 years and older.

The testing site will require an appointment through Quest’s online portal at www.MyQuestCOVIDTest.com, which will screen and schedule applicants for medical eligibility.

At the testing site, those being tested will need to wear a mask and stay in their cars for verification of eligibility criteria, ID check and self-administered test. Testing is not available to those who walk up. 

The site will use a self-administered nasal swab test that will allow those being tested to swab their own nose while in their vehicles, observed by a trained medical volunteer to ensure the sample is taken correctly. The sealed sample will be dropped into a container on the subject’s way out of the drive-through site.

Results will be sent to those being tested as well as the applicable departments of health.

While individuals who are tested are awaiting results, they should follow CDC guidelines and take steps to help prevent the virus from spreading to people in their home and community.

Anyone with questions regarding testing and appointments can call Quest’s dedicated COVID-19 line at 866-448-7719 Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.