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A health worker takes a sample in a single-person screening booth in front of H Plus Yangji Hospital in Seoul on Mar. 16. (Yonhap News)

In addition to drive-thru testing for the novel coronavirus, South Korea now has developed “walk-thru” screening clinics.

Since Mar. 16, individuals who need testing have been walking into phone booth-sized rooms at H Plus Yangji Hospital, in Seoul’s Gwanak District. Once a patient is inside, a doctor on the other side of a see-through barrier inserts their hands into gloves attached to the barrier to collect a sample.

The walk-thru testing method is more effective than the screening clinics currently being used to collect samples. Under the current method, the screening clinic, which is typically set up in a shipping container or a negative-pressure tent, has to be disinfected after a sample is taken, which takes from 30 minutes to an hour. In effect, it takes longer to disinfect the center than to collect the sample.

“Since these screening rooms are the size of a phone booth, it doesn’t take long to disinfect it. The doctors collect the sample in less than a minute, disinfection takes a minute or two, and then we let it air out for 5-7 minutes. The whole process is over in 10 minutes,” said a spokesperson for Yangji Hospital.

The hospital is currently operating four screening booths, with two or three doctors collecting samples. The hospital said it had tested 45 people this morning alone.

Walk-thru testing is not only faster, but also safer, since the doctors and patients don’t make physical contact in the booth. “The doctors and patients are kept separate during the testing, which reduces the risk that they’ll infect each other,” the hospital spokesperson said. Because the two areas are divided, the doctors are able to collect samples without wearing heavy Level D protective gear.

On Mar. 20, the city of Namyangju announced it would open two walk-thru testing centers, one at the city’s second municipal office and another at Pungyang Community Health Center, on Mar. 23.

By Suh Hye-mi, staff reporter

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