University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) will host drive-thru COVID-19 testing for the first time in Oxford on Friday at the Oxford Conference Center from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Before patients can schedule an appointment to be tested, they must either go through screening by a UMMC clinician or be screened through the CSpire Health App. 

Screening on the app is available every day from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and those without smartphones can call (601) 496-7200. 

Residents considered “high-risk” for COVID-19 will provide a sample via a nose swab without having to exit their vehicles. Patients are then asked to go home and will be called with their results.The administered COVID-19 tests are similar to flu tests, and the specimen collected will go to a UMMC lab for testing. 

Almost 800 people across 23 one-day testing locations in the state have already been tested, and another 2,570 were tested at the Mississippi State Fairgrounds. UMMC and the Mississippi State Department of Health are partnering with the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency and the Mississippi National Guard to coordinate the mobile testing sites.