A charter bus company has reinvented itself to offer mobile COVID-19 testing sites since the coronavirus pandemic has shut down regular operations.
Last week, Storer Coaches launched BusTest Express, which uses the 45-foot motorcoaches as mobile testing facilities.
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Donald Storer, the president of BusTest Express, expects his business to revolutionize the health care industry’s response to the pandemic by providing people – especially those in rural areas – easy access to testing.
“These buses are designed for mobility, and can go wherever they’re needed to dramatically increase healthcare capacity in both urban centers and rural areas, along with underserved and hard-to-reach populations,” Storer said in a statement.
BusTest Express started its operations in Fresno County, as well as a couple of Southern California locations.
The company is currently operating one bus in Fresno County in conjunction with the Fresno County Department of Public Health.
The public health department sends the BusTest Express bus out to a location every day, offering people in that chosen area the convenience to receive a coronavirus test without having to travel far.
BusTest Express is able to test over 500 people every day, adding to Fresno County’s testing capacity, which has been just over 3,500 tests per day over the past two weeks.
The bus is set up to keep the medical staff separated from the individuals getting tested. Patients approach a window kiosk on the bus and receive a self-swab PCR test, which they return to staff once completed.
