Montco Coronavirus Testing Site To Open At Temple's Ambler Campus

UPPER DUBLIN, PA — Montgomery County will open a drive-thru coronavirus testing site at Temple University's Ambler campus this weekend in an effort to meet rapidly growing demand in the area.

The new site will open up at 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 21. No treatment will be available at the site. Testing is available by appointment only, and only certain high risk groups are eligible to be tested here.

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"Due to the limited number of tests available, tests will be reserved for high risk individuals," Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh said during Thursday afternoon's press conference. "Criteria may be enhanced or relaxed based on future availability of tests."

Individuals are "high risk" if they meet one of the following four criteria. Only these individuals will be tested at this specific site:

• fever of 100.4 and cough
• temperature at or above 99.6, and aged 65 or older
• first responder, law enforcement, EMS, or dispatcher, and have concern over exposure to potentially infected individual
• healthcare worker providing direct patient care and testing is not available through employer

This is distinct from the tents and testing apparatus that have been set up at Audubon Elementary School in Lower Providence. No testing site is currently open at that location.

Advanced technology will help keep healthcare workers safe and limit the spread of the virus. Staff will take temperatures using non-contact, infrared thermometers before administering tests.

If you fit one of the criteria above, online appointments can be booked beginning Friday, March 20 at 8 p.m. A link to register will be available here at that time. You can also call 610-631-3000, starting at 8 a.m. on Saturday, March 21.

If you have minor symptoms, stay home and call your healthcare provider.

The site will open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day, as testing supplies allow. The address is the 1400 block of E. Butler Pike, about 100 feet northeast of the Community Ambulance Association of Ambler parking lot.

Pedestrians, motorcycles, and large commercial vehicles are prohibited.

Thirteen new cases of coronavirus were found in Montgomery County on Thursday, bringing the county's total to 55.

Several of the 55 individuals infected in Montgomery County are hospitalized. Officials have not yet provided an update on the conditions of any of the cases, nor have they noted if any are yet recovered. The infected include two young children, and a CHOP doctor who remains in critical condition.

The state's first death was reported Wednesday. An adult from Northampton County has died from the virus. There are a total of 185 infected statewide as of Thursday morning.