Ali‘i Health to Host COVID-19 Screening, Testing Drives Twice a Week

People get screened or tested during Alii Health Center’s COVID-19 drive-thru site at Old Kona Airport on March 28. (PC: Tiffany DeMasters)

Ali‘i Health Center will host its next COVID-19 screening and testing event on April 2 at the Keauhou Shopping Center, locating at 78-6831 Ali‘i Dr.

The Kona clinic will continue to host the pop-up drives every Monday and Thursday until the coronavirus is contained or they run out of supplies. The drives will run from 8 a.m. to noon.

Anne Broderson, advanced practice registered nurse and cardiology nurse practitioner at Ali‘i Health, encourages people to utilize Ali‘i Health’s telehealth service, which provides patient screening. If testing is deemed necessary, individuals can skip the onsite screening and go straight to getting tested.

Call the clinic at 808-747-8321 and select option 5 for assistance in prescreening.

Ali‘i Health hosted its first COVID-19 screening and testing drive at Old Kona Airport on March 28. After the event, Broderson flew to O‘ahu to deliver 174 test samples to Clinical Laboratories. As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, 80 results were returned, all negative.

As Ali‘i Health continues these drives, Broderson is also encouraging those who have high exposure to the virus to come get screened. Those individuals include TSA agents, travelers, taxi and Uber drivers, emergency responders, etc.

“We want them to get screened regardless of showing symptoms,” Broderson said.

Ali‘i Health’s public drives are part of the statewide effort to bring screening and testing to all communities to slow the spread of the virus.

On Tuesday, the Hawai‘i Department of Health confirmed there were 15 cases in Hawai‘i County. Overall, the state now 224. The stated also confirmed that Hawai‘i had its first COVID-19 related death on O‘ahu.