Ocean County moving drive-thru testing site to Waretown

Ocean County Health and OEM officials will continue running drive-thru tests for county residents with a prescription and symptoms but they will be done at a new location starting on Monday to the Ocean County Fire and First Aid Training Center on Volunteer Way in Waretown.

“Starting April 20, we are moving from the parking lot at Ocean County College to a more secure structure that will be more helpful to the hospital workers and other staff that will be administering the test,” Ocean County Sheriff Mike Mastronardy, Coordinator for the OC OEM said in a statement. “The training center also provides an indoor drive thru area so it’s not subject to bad weather conditions which resulted in the postponement of Monday’s (April 13) appointments at the college and damage to some of the tents we had there.”

The test requirements have not changed since the beginning and they won't in a new location explains Ocean County Public Health Coordinator Dan Regenye and anyone getting the test should continue self-isolating after receiving it.

“If you have symptoms, you should be returning home immediately after being tested and continue self- quarantining,” Regenye said in a statement. “If you have the coronavirus you will be spreading it if you are not isolating.”

Test appointments are held Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and are scheduled in advance for Ocean County residents from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm.

To date, a total of 1,955 Ocean County citizens have been tested for the coronavirus at Ocean County College. Regenye said that of those tests, 1,574 results have been returned and just under 30 percent of the tests have been positive.

Residents can start to book appointments with the Health Department at www.ochd.org for the Training Center test site starting at 3:00 pm on Friday.

“Because of the limited number of tests we have, it still remains imperative that people follow the requirements to be tested at the training center,” Regenye said. “We do not want anyone to show up at this testing site without following the requirements we have put in place. We are not going to do any health screenings at the site. It is just for testing for the virus.”

Ocean County Health Department officials are reminding residents of the requirements to be tested include:

· You must be an Ocean County resident and have identification.

· You must have a healthcare practitioner script. · You must make an online appointment at www.ochd.org.

· You must be symptomatic.

Regenye said that any practitioner (including Nurse Practitioner, Advanced Practice Nurse, Medical Doctor, Physician Assistant etc.) who has “prescriptive” privileges in New Jersey can write a script for COVID testing, it does not necessarily have to be a physician.

In addition, Regenye stressed that with many health care providers currently doing telemedicine, individuals do not need to see a physician in person to obtain the necessary script.

“Many health care providers are now doing telemedicine and are offering this service remotely and in the spirit of social distancing,” Regenye said. “Please do not unnecessarily expose healthcare workers or others in an attempt to obtain a physician’s order. Please use telemedicine when appropriate during this challenging time.”

The hospitals assisting in staffing the testing site - both Hackensack Meridian Health and RWJ Barnabas Healthcare System - have telemedicine opportunities to assist Ocean County residents obtain the required healthcare practitioner script before traveling to the testing center.

The telemedicine services at the hospitals can be accessed at:

• Hackensack Meridian Health (Ocean Medical Center, Southern Ocean Medical Center) https://www.hackensackmeridianhealth.org/covid19/

• RWJ Barnabas Healthcare System (Community Medical Center, Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus) www.RWJBHtelemed.org use code RWJBH15

Once the test has been performed, it’s anticipated to take about three to five days for results to be returned.

“All the results will be available on the BioReference Laboratories Patient Portal: Bioreference.com/patients/ and through the Ocean County Health Department residents will be notified whether they test positive or negative,” Regenye said.