Drive-through COVID-19 testing rolled out in Rome

Drive-through virus testing, which started in northern Rome earlier in the week, continued on Friday.

Health workers wearing protective suits, gloves and goggles, were working on a street in front of the local health service building, inserting a first swab into each of the driver's nostrils, then a second one in the mouth.

Both swabs are then sealed into two different test tubes to be sent out to labs for testing.

The drive-through tests are aimed at speeding up the procedure and avoiding overflowing hospitals, with 50 people tested every day from inside their cars.

According to authorities results are delivered after approximately three days.

The drive-through test is conducted after an appointment is made on the phone, following an initial conversation to establish if the person, even if asymptomatic, is at risk of having contracted the virus.

If someone tests positive, if asymptomatic, the test is done a second time after the end of the 14-day period of self-isolation.

Local authorities stressed how the new testing system allows to speed up the testing procedures and save time for health workers.

The new testing in northern Rome started on Tuesday and will continue for the time being every morning until necessary.

The number of coronavirus deaths in Italy rose by 760 on Thursday, bringing the total to 13,900.

Subscribe to RT! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpwvZwUam-URkxB7g4USKpg?sub_confirmation=1

RT LIVE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFAcqaNzNSc

Check out http://rt.com

Like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/RTnews Follow us on VK https://vk.com/rt_international Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/RT_com Follow us on Instagram http://instagram.com/rt Follow us on Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/rttv

#RT (Russia Today) is a global #news network broadcasting from Moscow, London, Paris and Washington studios to over 100 countries. RT is the first news channel to break the 1 billion YouTube views benchmark.