Demand for rapid testing continues in Rockville Centre

Since early April, a large bus has been stationed in the parking lot across from the Rockville Centre Police Department on Maple Avenue to provide rapid testing for Covid-19, and people have been continuously taking advantage of this service. Offered by Halper Family Medicine, in partnership with Baseline Health, more than 100 people per day are visiting the site, where patients can receive results in about one minute.

“It’s been steady since the start,” Dr. Todd A. Halper, medical director of Halper Family Medicine said, noting that about 200 patients a day are being tested across all three facilities, which includes locations in Long Beach and Bayport.

Patients can either stay in their cars to get tested or go to one of the three testing rooms on the bus. For the FDA-approved 2019-Covid IgG/IgM Rapid Test, patients get a finger pricked and the results come back within a minute. At that point, people learn whether they currently have Covid-19, if they have the antibodies indicating they had been previously infected or if they have never been infected.

“It’s important to know your status,” Halper said, “and to know whether you’ve been exposed.”

Halper said the majority of patients have tested positive for Covid-19, and a large number are showing antibodies for the disease, including some who are asymptomatic. Knowing the results, he said, is important in order to know how to treat it. Recently, he said, a patient tested positive who had been diagnosed with pneumonia a month earlier. If he had been tested earlier, he would have known he had Covid-19 in addition to pneumonia. Luckily, Halper said, this patient took precautions to self-isolate, and no one else in his family tested positive.

“If you test positive, you then know you have to quarantine yourself so others can’t get it,” Halper said.

Anyone interested in getting tested can call the practice at (516) 536-2221 to set up an appointment. The test is covered by most insurances, and Halper said they will accept people who have not been patients prior, as well as people without insurance. Those in need of testing large groups should text #Telemed 516-629-0486.

Alba Rodriguez, the office manager at Halper Family Medicine, said that most tests are scheduled the same day. Patients must call to schedule to an appointment and then receive phone call for a telemedicine screening, where patients provide a list of symptoms and medical history related to Covid-19 exposure. She said people seemed relieved to have the availability to get the test and most are staying in their cars.

“People are really grateful to be able to drive by to get tested,” Rodriguez said, “and to get an answer so quickly.”

Halper Family Medicine is at 55 Maple Ave., Suite 102, in Rockville Centre. The office is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday. In addition to the rapid testing, the practice offers telemedicine, virtual calls, respiratory and viral swabs, medication refills and sick visits.