Coronavirus Drive-Through Testing Site Coming To Camden County

CAMDEN COUNTY, NJ — Camden County will open a coronavirus drive-through testing site on Wednesday, officials announced.

The site will be set up at Cooper’s Poynt Park, 801 Delaware Avenue in Camden City and will be open Monday through Friday, noon to 4 p.m. through April 15.

The testing site is open to Camden County residents, by appointment, who have symptoms and meet other criteria, and who have received a referral for testing from a medical provider (at Cooper, Virtua, CamCare, or other provider).

The site is a collaboration between Cooper University Health Care, Virtua Health, the Camden County Freeholder Board, and Camden County Health Department. Cooper’s Ferry Partnership also collaborated with the two healthcare institutions and the county department of health to facilitate the mobile testing site.

“As South Jersey health care providers are working around the clock to keep residents safe, our community is coming together to provide needed resources and I thank Cooper and Virtua for joining with Camden County to open this new COVID-19 testing site,” Rep. Donald Norcross (D-Camden/Burlington/Gloucester) said. “This new location will provide testing for symptomatic residents at a crucial point in our response. I’m grateful for the bravery of our local health care professionals who are on the front lines, testing and working to slow the spread of the virus and save lives.”

The announcement comes two weeks after Camden County Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli Jr. said the county couldn’t open a drive-through testing site at Camden County College due to a lack of testing kits.

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“We are proud to work with two of our outstanding regional health systems, Cooper and Virtua, to open this new COVID-19 testing site to serve the needs of the citizens of Camden County,” Cappelli said. “As the entire country and state continues to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak, it is important county residents have access and opportunity to testing. This initiative combined with social distancing and other mitigation factors will help us break the back of this virus.”

“We must all continue to work together to face this unprecedented challenge, and this expanded testing site is an important part of that response,” Virtua Health President and CEO Dennis W. Pullin said. “We commend our care teams for their selfless actions and thank them for their heroic work. Together, we will find our way through this crisis.”

In addition to this joint testing location, Virtua performs COVID-19 testing at its five hospitals and operates a by-appointment drive-thru clinic prioritized for symptomatic healthcare workers and first responders.

“This is great news for the residents of Camden. Testing locations, which require you to drive through, can be difficult to access for those who do not have a car. This new location will provide an easy, convenient location for individuals to drive or walk-up and have samples collected for quick COVID-19 testing to help slow the spread of this virus,” Co-President/CEO of Cooper Kevin O’Dowd said.

“Community testing is so important in limiting the spread of COVID-19, and this collaboration will significantly increase the number of people tested in the city and county,” Co-President/CEO of Cooper Dr. Anthony Mazzarelli said.

Cooper also operates a community based COVID-19 testing collection site in Cherry Hill and performs tests for hospitalized patients and Cooper staff through its own medical laboratory.

On Monday, Rep. Jeff Van Drew publicly requested a drive-through center for all South Jersey residents, and only South Jersey residents, that would likely be set up in Atlantic City.

See related: NJ Coronavirus Updates: Here's What You Need To Know