PHILADELPHIA — A drive through the testing site for the new coronavirus, known as COVID-19 for FREE, is open in South Philadelphia and will test only people meeting certain criteria, the City of Philadelphia said Friday.

The Community Based Testing Site will be open from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. daily at Citizens Bank Park. Officials said the site will be open every day during those hours as long as supplies allow.

Citizens Bank Park is located at 1 Citizens Bank Way. Entry to the site will be one Pattison Avenue. Drivers should head south on 7th Street and turn right on Pattison Avenue. Philadelphia Police will be on-scene coordinating traffic.

Philadelphia worked with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Pennsylvania Department of Health, and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency to open the site.

While the Community Based Testing Site is open to the public, there are strict eligibility criteria for admission and testing.

This comes at a time when cities like New York City are closing down schools, bars, restaurants, and gyms.

Unlike other testing sites offered by healthcare systems such as Penn, a doctor’s note or prescription is not needed to be eligible.

Based on limited testing capacity, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health is restricting eligibility for testing at this site to the following groups of people:

• People who are over 50 years of age and are displaying symptoms consistent with COVID-19 coronavirus.
• Healthcare workers who are displaying symptoms consistent with COVID-19 coronavirus, including:
  • Hospital and doctors office staff with direct patient contact
  • Nursing home staff with direct patient contact
  • People who perform Emergency Medical Services duties
  • Home healthcare staff with direct patient contact

Due to staffing and supply limitations, people who do not meet the criteria listed above will be turned away. If testing capacity is increased, the health department will expand these criteria.

Philadelphia officials recommend anyone who has the following symptoms of COVID-19 to call their regular healthcare provider to identify other sites to be tested for coronavirus.

The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, cough, and shortness of breath.

For those in either group eligible for testing, entry into the site is only open to people in four-wheel, closed-top, non-commercial, non-recreational vehicles. Walk-ins will not be permitted access to the site.

People who meet the criteria and were to be tested should bring the following items to ensure a smooth admission and testing process.

• Government-issued identification card
• Healthcare facility identification card, if applicable
• Insurance card

These items are not required to be tested but will help ease processing and data collection at the site.