The Curative Testing Site at the Potland International Jetport This Afternoon.
On His Way Back to the North Pole, Santa Recommended That Everyone Who is Qualified, Get Fully Vaccinated as Well as Tested for the COVID-19. “Wear Extra Strong Face Masks,” he Urged to Protect From the Omicron Variant.
“When we are fully staffed we will be accepting walk-ins. That will be within the week,” said Rich Wendel, Regional Manager for Curative, a new company that is providing free COVID-19 testing for the public as well as airline passengers at the Portland International Jetport.
Participats receive the results of the self-administered nasal swab test within an hour or two and can be delivered by email or texting – whichever the participant prefers.
Appointments for this free rapid response testing have been in high demand because of the dramatic surge in the number of new cases of the COVID-19 recorded across Maine and elsewhere in recent weeks. Traveling during the holidays has added a sense of urgency to those coming and going – making the Jetport a logical site for this testing facility.
A national team has been on site at the Jetport training lab technicians since the opening of the site on December 15, 2021. Just one person was being trained today according to Wendel, who has been with the company for the past month, having worked in the manufacturing sector previously.
One couple who was visiting family in Falmouth and was returning to Washington, D.C. said they were able to make an appointment just a week ago today for this afternoon. A man with his two daughters and a family friend said he had made appointments for the four of them five days ago. “”We just happened to have time for the four of you,” he was told. Other participants reported longer wait times to get an appointment for this much sought after test. A steady stream of customers with appoinments arrived at the COVID-19 testing site during the hour plus this blogger was at the site early this afternoon.
Parkng is plentiful in the adjacent Jetport short-term parking lot. The site is accessible because it is on the first floor of the Jetport and no one needs to negotiate stairs. The site is located next to a ramp for those needing such a convenience.
“We are excited to be here in Portland. We’ve been very busy,” said Wendel. The almost 2 year old company has a similar facility in Bangor. Wendel said he is not often at this site because he’s devoting much of his time to looking for other sites in Maine to open up similar faciities. He would not name other sites under consideration. The company was formed in March of 2020 in California to meet other health testing needs prior to the pandemic. But when the pandemic hit the US, the company quickly pivoted its focus to COVID-19 testing. Similar Curative testing sites are in numerous states in the US according to Wendel.
For more background information on the subject, please visit post herein dated December 15, 2021.