New York City opens first drive-through COVID-19 testing facility

01:47

The first cars arrived at the new COVID-19 drive-through testing site in Staten Island, New York, just moments after it opened here on Thursday.

The site is New York City's first drive-through facility.

Cars pulling up must show their ID through a closed window. People are then asked to drive to tents where they will be tested by healthcare professionals wearing protective clothing.

This is the fifth drive-in testing site in New York state. But there are mobile sites like this across the United States now.

Each one has a different system, but most, require people to be pre-screened and given an appointment before they come to the test site.

The hope is that keeping people in their cars will prevent further spread of the virus, and speed up the testing system.