Coronavirus Testing Site Opening In Brookhaven Marta Lot On Oct. 29

From the City of Brookhaven:

The new testing site, also staffed by COVID Care Georgia, will be open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. every weekday except Wednesday, and from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. on weekends. The site can accommodate drive-up and walk-up customers and medical assistants on site can administer tests to people ages six months and older. The site will operate at the Brookhaven MARTA location for the next six months and the testing is free.

The new testing site is the result of a joint agreement between the City and the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) to provide testing at a convenient location near Brookhaven along MARTA’s Gold Line. “National healthcare leaders continue to stress the importance and value of ongoing testing,” said Brookhaven Mayor John Ernst. “With the recent surge in coronavirus cases in Georgia and nationwide, we certainly wanted to make it easier for our residents to discover if they have been exposed to the virus. This partnership with MARTA, COVID Care Georgia and LabCorp will enable those who live nearby, MARTA passengers and others within walking distance, to have the opportunity for quick, free testing.”

COVID Care Georgia is a patient-centered practice started by Atlanta emergency physician, Dr. Sofia Khan, and local psychiatrist, Dr. Asad Mehdi. They utilize the standard polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology, considered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as the “gold standard” of COVID-19 testing and used by the majority of testing sites across the U.S. These tests detect the disease by looking for traces of the virus’ genetic material on a sample most often collected via a nose or throat swab.

“Our MARTA site will be fully staffed with providers and medical assistants,” noted Dr. Khan, “and we have plenty of PPE to ensure safe and secure testing in this outdoor setting.

This is a quick, no wait process, taking an average of five minutes. We can also test multiple people in one car, and most vehicles are in and out of line within 10 minutes.

No appointment is necessary to receive testing at the new Brookhaven MARTA site. Customers are asked to bring their insurance information and identification, although the uninsured will not be turned away.

It takes about a day-and-a-half to get test results that are provided by email or text messaging.

This press release was produced by the City of Brookhaven. The views expressed here are the author’s own.