Ocean County College Coronavirus Test Site Opening Monday

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Ocean County will begin drive-through testing for the new coronavirus at Ocean County College on Monday, county officials said Thursday.

There will be tight restrictions in place, however: You must be an Ocean County resident, you must register, and you must have a prescription from a health care provider.

"We want these tests to run as smoothly as possible for our residents and the staff that will be onsite doing the tests. This will help insure everyone’s safety," said Ocean County Sheriff Michael G. Mastronardy, who also is the county's emergency management coordinator. The county Office of Emergency Management is overseeing the site.

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"If you haven’t registered and if you don’t have a doctor’s prescription we cannot provide you with a test. I cannot stress this enough," Mastronardy said.

The site will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, weather permitting, and residents coming for the tests should use the Hooper Avenue entrance to the college.

As of Thursday afternoon, there were 6,876 positive tests for COVID-19 in New Jersey, and 81 people have died from it, according to the state health department. Figures released Wednesday afternoon by the Ocean County Health Department said 321 county residents have tested positive so far. Read more: NJ Coronavirus Updates: Here's What You Need To Know

Ocean County residents who are showing signs of the virus or who have been exposed to someone with the coronavirus should contact their doctor immediately to see if they need to be tested.

"If you can be tested elsewhere before we open the site I would strongly urge you to do so," said Daniel Regenye, public health coordinator for the Ocean County Health Department.

Those coming for testing will have a nasal swab taken while they sit in their cars. Once the test has been performed, it’s anticipated to take about three to five days for results to be returned.

Results will be available on the BioReference Laboratories Patient Portal and residents will be notified whether they test positive or negative, Regenye said.

Ocean County contracted with BioReference Laboratories for 1,000 test kits; the contract is independent of the state’s contract with the company. The county also is getting additional test kits from Quest Diagnostics.

The site will operate daily as long as coronavirus tests continue to be available.

The Ocean County Sheriff’s Department is providing security and traffic control at the site and staff from the county's four hospitals and the county health department will be administering the tests.

The most common symptoms of COVID 19 are fever, fatigue, a dry cough and shortness of breath.

Health experts say individuals not experiencing any signs or symptoms of a respiratory illness are discouraged from being tested as it diverts resources away from those who need it most, floods the laboratory with specimens unlikely to test positive and provides individuals with a false sense of security when the results come back negative.

"We are doing everything we can to have safeguards in place to protect the nurses and medical personnel on site and the public coming to be tested," Mastronardy said. "We strongly urge the public to adhere to the requirements we have established."

To register for the coronavirus test visit the Ocean County Health Department website at www.ochd.org and follow the online directions.

For more information on COVID 19 call the Ocean County Health Department hotline at 732-341-9700, Ext.7411.

Read also: Coronavirus Stimulus Package: 5 Things It Means For You

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