Coronavirus: First drive-thru testing facility set up in New York City

Medics take samples from motorists while wearing protective suits

New Yorkers queued up to use the city’s first drive-through coronavirus testing facility on Staten Island.

The state-managed site on South Beach opened on Thursday by appointment only from 11am to 7pm.

Teams of medics wearing protective suits carried out the tests by inserting a swab into both nostrils.

The procedure takes roughly 30 minutes and results are expected to take 72 hours.

Officials said they have capacity for hundreds of cars.

The site, which is being run with the help of the National Guard, joins four others across the state of New York, in New Rochelle, Coney Island and Long Island.

At the time of the last official update on Friday, there were 3,954 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the city and 26 deaths.

New York governor Andrew Cuomo has told all non-essential workers to stay at home to slow the spread of the pandemic.

All businesses that do not follow the order will face a fine and mandatory closure after the executive order comes into force on Sunday.