ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The process of testing the 6,700 fans who were able to get tickets to this Saturday's playoff game against the Indianapolis Colts is underway at Bills Stadium.
As of Wednesday evening, 3,000 fans had been tested. By the end of the day Wednesday, about 5,000 fans should be tested.
As part of the guidelines from New York State, all fans must have proof of a negative COVID-19 test before entering Bills Stadium on Saturday. To help with this effort, the team partnered with BioReference Laboratories to set up a testing site in Lot 4 outside the stadium.
Testing started at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, and fans 2 On Your Side talked to on the way out say the process was quickly and smoothly. Despite a small traffic backup along Abbott Road when the site first opened, most fans told 2 On Your Side's Heather Ly that the whole process took about 10 minutes.
"Hopefully I didn't pick anything up within the last 24 hours, but I'm anticipating a negative and a Bills victory," Kevin Besecker of Orchard Park said. "I actually took a precaution and went and got a rapid test yesterday to make sure I was going to be negative, and I wasn't going to waste a ticket."
Getting 6,700 people tested in just a few days is no small task. There are 30 drive-through lanes set up for testing, and three to four people working in each lane.
"It was non-eventful, it was nice and quiet, really easy. Come get the test, it was easy," David Wilson of Rochester said.
Employees underwent training and did a test run of the drive-through testing operation prior to opening on Wednesday.
Those who needed a test were sent an email with instructions on how to set up a testing appointment. People could book a 30-minute window on Wednesday or Thursday.
The site is able to test about 300 people per hour. About 150 people had been tested within the first 35 minutes on Wednesday morning.
After getting the less-invasive lower-nasal swab, the samples are transported to a lab in New Jersey to be processed.
"Precious cargo, right? We have three different line hauls throughout the course of the day. Morning, mid-day and late afternoon to catch the late run," said Ryan Kellogg, vice president of sales for BioReference Laboratories.
Fans are expected to get their results via a secure email in one to two days.
"The instructions are to either print that out and bring it on game day with your ticket and identification card, or leverage your phone, which will have that [test result information] as well. If for some reason a fan is not receiving those secure emails, you'll also have the option to get onto our patient portal to leverage that," Kellogg said.
Kellogg said handouts are also available at the testing site that have instructions for people to follow if for some reason they do not get the email.
"The benefit of working so closely and partnering with the Bills is they provided us with a list of individuals, ticket holders, so we are going to be able to cross-level that with the results and make sure we get in front of it and proactively communicate," Kellogg said.
Fans are responsible to pay for the cost of the test. If the results come back positive, those fans will be reimbursed for their tickets and parking fee.
Testing will also be done on Thursday. Fans who have tickets to Saturday's game were already contacted with information on how to schedule an appointment.