COVID-19 testing at Warwick Mall causes controversy among some shoppers
WARWICK, R.I. (WLNE) – COVID-19 testing at Warwick Mall caused controversy among some shoppers on Sunday.
Long lines stretched out from one of the wings, where the testing was taking place, out into a main corridor of the mall.
The general manager of the mall, Domenic Shiavone, said these pop-up testing sites across the state are meant to prevent the spread of the virus by encouraging shoppers to get tested, who may not have otherwise took the time.
“The point of this is not for sick people,” Shiavone said. “They get it through their medical facilities, other facilities. This was to reach out to the community. It’s people who are walking around, shopping to get them where they’re at.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Health said the testing is meant to target asymptomatic shoppers already inside the mall, so they could know their status.
However, some shoppers disapproved of COVID-19 testing in a crowded mall during the holidays. They told ABC 6 News, they felt, it would only help spread the virus by drawing infected people into the mall, with people looking to get tested.
“I am astonished and upset, beyond upset as whoever ok’d this to happen,” the shopper said.
The Rhode Island Department of Health announced pop-up testing sites at shopping centers across the state including at Stop & Shop in Providence and Chapel View Shopping Center in Cranston.
Test results were rapid and took about 15 minutes.
The testing went from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
According to mall administrators, about 650 people were tested on Saturday with about 7 percent of people with positive test results.
They said on Sunday, 887 people were tested. 50 people, or 6% of those who were tested were positive for COVID-19.
While a spokesperson said the testing was meant to target asymptomatic people, ABC 6 News spoke with one person getting tested, who said he did come to the mall specifically for that reason—to get tested.
But, he said, it was no different than public testing at other public sites, like T.F. Green Airport.
Mall administrators told ABC 6 News that anyone who tested positive would be asked to immediately leave the mall.
