A US healthcare worker takes a swab from a patient at a drive-through site in Arlington, Virginia, on March 19, 2020.

From Israel to South Africa, countries around the world are rushing to set up drive-through hubs to test people for the coronavirus, copying a model that has proven effective in South Korea.

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Health officials in South Korea were the first to open drive-through test sites in late February, offering quick, safe and free testing for the novel coronavirus.

The drive-through hubs have been credited with helping the country to bring its virus outbreak – at one point the world’s second-worst after China – under control.

The US, a country long-accustomed to drive-throughs, is now playing catch-up, racing to open sites in some of its hardest-hit areas, like New York.

France and Spain have also begun opening drive-through testing centres, while Ireland has opened one such facility in the country's largest stadium in Dublin.

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