Kuwait's Ministry of Health will open a drive-through Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing station in Sabhan Area next Sunday, September 20, an MoH official said Thursday.

The new station, to open upon instruction of Health Minister Sheikh Dr. Bassel Al-Sabah, will conduct swab tests and is part of the MoH's efforts to conduct as many tests as possible to contribute to curbing spread of coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Fahad Al-Qemlas, Director of Public Health, told KUNA.

The new station will start receiving people at 5:30 p.m. in its initial operation phase while an assessment of the service takes place, he said, before increasing working hours.

People wishing to conduct swab tests could make an appointment through the ministry's website: www.moh.gov.kw. This tool will start working with the operation of Sabhan testing facility.

The objective of the appointment is to avoid crowds, he said.

This is the third testing stations following the ones at Jaber Al-Ahmad Stadium and Jazeera's Park 'n Fly testing facility, he noted.

Al-Qemlas said the previous two facilities were set up and operated by Kuwaiti employees who carried out over 2,700 swab tests per day.

The new facility in Sabhan, in full compliance with health and safety measures, could test up to 1,000 people per day at its initial phase, he said.

The drive-thru testing stations, he explained, primarily aimed at testing people who were in close contact with infected persons.

Al-Qemlas called on people who take swab tests appointment to download "Shlonik" application on their smart phones which provided important information about the pandemic and how to deal with it