The Church of the Highlands continued its third day of hosting drive-through testing for COVID-19 and reached more than 1,000 total tests early Thursday morning.

The testing began by 9 a.m. this morning at the church’s main campus on Grants Mill Road.

The first day of drive-through testing on Tuesday at the Grandview campus yielded 8 new cases, said Dr. Robert Record, CEO of Christ Health Center.

Record said the numbers were reported immediately to the state as they came in. As of Thursday morning the Alabama Department of Public Health reported 68 cases, up from 51 Wednesday afternoon. “Both the lab and our team report any positive patients to ADPH immediately,” Record said.

Thursday’s drive-through testing at Church of the Highlands was the most prolific yet, with 798 tested, said Church of the Highlands Associate Pastor Layne Schranz. That brought the total over three days to 1,775, he said.

Traffic ran smoother this morning than Wednesday, Record said. They did 347 tests Tuesday and 630 Wednesday.

The tests are being administered by the staff of Christ Health Center, a clinic founded by the Church of the Highlands in Woodlawn in 2009, and will be processed by Assurance Scientific Laboratory in Birmingham, which provides the test kits.

The testing is being done in tents on the parking lot at the main campus of the church on Grants Mill Road, just off Interstate 459. More than 100 volunteers and medical staff workers are coordinating the effort.

Ten staff members from the 100-member staff at Christ Health Center were on site at the church campus, Record said. About 100 volunteers helped, many of them with clinical experience, plus 20 staff members from the Church of the Highlands and three staff members from Assurance Scientific.

People are discouraged from coming if they don’t have clear symptoms or known exposure. Pre-screening will be done on site.

Drive-through testing patients are being billed through their health insurance. “Uninsured paid nothing," Schranz said. "If they had insurance they will be billed.”

Record said Christ Health Center was overwhelmed with a demand for tests last week but had no tests available. Record and Dr. Ty Thomas, anesthesiologist, founder and lab director at Birmingham-based Assurance Scientific Laboratories, began working together on testing Saturday at the company’s office which is also just off U.S. 280.

By Tuesday, the church set up the testing site at the Grandview campus, then moved it overnight to the Grants Mill campus for Wednesday testing. Testing is expected to continue on a daily basis, with cars being allowed to line up at 6:30 a.m. and testing starting by 9 a.m.

For test sites statewide, click here.

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