NASHVILLE – More than 11,000 Tennesseans rushed to the state’s free COVID-19 drive-thru testing sites over the weekend, including about 1,000 residents from Southeast Tennessee and parts of the Cumberland Plateau, Gov. Bill Lee announced Monday.
Pent-up demand for tests as well as the ability to get tested even without traditional symptoms resulted in 11,230 Tennesseans hitting a total of 33 sites across the state on Saturday and Sunday.
No immediate information on positive or negative results were available early Monday.
The massive testing effort was carried out under Lee’s Unified Command, a joint partnership among the Tennessee Department of Health, the Tennessee Department of Military and the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.
“Tennesseans across the state heeded the call of ‘when in doubt, get a test,’ and we believe these efforts will be an important part of our overall strategy to reboot Tennessee’s economy,” Lee said Monday in a news release. “While demand exceeded original projections, our Unified Command group adapted quickly this weekend so that individuals who needed tests could receive them.”