PNC Bank Arts Center, Bergen test centers shut after 30 minutes

HOLMDEL — The drive-through COVID-19 testing center at the PNC Bank Arts Center closed a half hour after it opened for the first time on Monday, according to the Asbury Park Press.

The lines were long on the ramps at exit 116 off the Parkway hours before the testing center opened at 8 a.m. DOT trucks were positioned on the shoulder with signs that read "no symptoms, no test" to stop drivers who wouldn't pass a screening from lining up.

A testing center at Bergen Communtiy College in Paramus also stopped doing tests around 8:30 a.m. as well, according to the Press. That center opened Friday, and closed after a few hours as workers hit capacity for the day.

The New Jersey Deptartment of Health did not immediately return a message on Monday morning.

To be eligible for testing at either location, you must be a New Jersey resident and have a fever of at least 99.6 degrees Fahrenheit, a cough and shortness of breath. Bring your driver's license if asked to prove your residency. The state posted a self-assessment test on its COVID-19 website to help determine if you are a candidate for testing.

Several more testing centers are scheduled to open this week, but the FEMA-backed Bergen and PNC Bank Arts Center locations are notable in that patients can be screened on the spot.

An appointment-only testing center for Union County residents only is scheduled to open at Kean University on Monday. Residents, first-responders and essential personnel throughout Union County who have been instructed by their doctors or healthcare providers to be tested for COVID-19 may head there. They must receive prescriptions and be registered by their doctors or healthcare providers on a secure portal in order to receive an appointment for the Kean location.

Hudson County will open a drive-through center for county residents at Hudson Regional Hospital in Secaucus, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. County residents can make an appointment by calling 201-388-1097. A patient's symptoms will first be discussed to determine if testing is appropriate and an appointment made.

Mayor Andre Sayegh put a call out for medical personnel to volunteer at a testing center scheduled to open for Passaic County residents at William Paterson University on Wednesday.

Passaic County spokesman Keith Furlong told NorthJersey.com the county has obtained kits to test 1,000 people from BioReference Laboratories of Elmwood Park and plans test 250 people per day. Furlong told NorthJersey.com that the testing will be by appointment only but a referral program is still being worked out.