Dr. Kai Matthes, pediatric anesthesiologist at Interisland Medical Group, mimics taking a swab of Dustin Heiner, owner of Bellissimo Stoneworks and Design Inc., while Loren Bianchi looks on Thursday morning. The booths that Bellissimo is building in the War Memorial Gym parking lot would allow health care providers to be protected while taking quick samples of patients to be tested for COVID-19. The Maui News / COLLEEN UECHI photos

WAILUKU — Drive-thru testing for the new coronavirus could be available at the War Memorial Gym as early as next week, with special booths that will allow health care workers to quickly swab patients and send them on their way.

“This is an opportunity to create an environment where there’s less exposure to the examiner,” said Dr. Kai Matthes, a pediatric anesthesiologist at Interisland Medical Group, who was on hand to monitor and test the booth Thursday morning.

Local physicians like Matthes have been calling on the state to set up testing centers away from hospitals and clinics, which would ease the burden on health care facilities, as well as reduce the risk to other patients.

“Our primary goal with the drive-thru testing is to divert people away from our hospitals and overloading their resources,” Maui County spokesman Chris Sugidono said Thursday. “The public knows that the hospitals are doing sampling, but we’re really stressing to people that they shouldn’t show up there unless they need urgent medical attention.”

Sugidono said that once the drive-thru is up and running, people will be able to call a phone number to be screened for testing eligibility. The test center would have morning and afternoon appointments.

Loren Bianchi (right) and Grant Ralls put together a special booth that will allow health care providers to see patients through a plexiglass window while taking samples to be tested for COVID-19.

“We’re also advising the community that we don’t need to test everyone in Maui County,” Sugidono said. “We continue to ask people with mild symptoms to stay home and take care of their personal health.”

On Thursday morning, Bellissimo Stoneworks and Design Inc. was putting the finishing touches on the first of 10 booths that will be built in the parking lot. Owner Dustin Heiner said the booths would be made of melamine, with plexiglass windows that would protect health care workers while allowing them to interact with patients. Each booth contains two holes that would operate similarly to containment glove boxes in laboratories.

The building materials are easy to disinfect, and Matthes added that the gloves also could be disinfected between uses, reducing the amount of equipment used.

“I’m going to do this for free, because I’m going to help Maui get a control on this,” Heiner said of the virus.

Heiner said his crew would be building through the night, and that he hoped to have all 10 booths assembled by Saturday. He estimated that the booths cost $8,000 to $10,000 and that Bellissimo was doing them at no charge.

“I just had two jobs cancel on me today, so I’m getting a little nervous with my workload too,” Heiner admitted. “I think everyone’s just kind of freaked out about the economy. This coronavirus is not helping anybody’s panic levels at all.”

Sugidono said the goal is to start testing early next week. He explained that the state’s Maui District Health Office has been working with health officials on Oahu to establish procedures and protocols.

“The major issue we’ve encountered is a lack of test kits nationwide and statewide, which has delayed the opening of drive-thru testing on the island,” he said. “Our intention is to do testing until it is no longer needed, but that will ultimately depend on the availability of resources.”

When asked Thursday whether the state might consider accepting test kits from places outside the U.S., state epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Park said that “while that may sound like a great idea, there are two issues.” One is that any test kit would need to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which has very strict laws. The second is that for every test kit used, that’s one set of personal protective equipment being taken away from health care workers, who need it not only for COVID-19 but for respiratory pathogens and other conditions.

“We need to make sure that when we test, we’re testing judiciously,” Park said. “If we do get the green light to use these test kits (from other places) I do hope whoever’s offering them is offering comparable amount of PPE (personal protective equipment) as well, so that we do not rob from our already shortening supply.”

The state Joint Information Center said Thursday via email that the DOH is working with the Healthcare Association of Hawaii “to obtain limited national supplies of swabbing kits, as our priority is ensuring that hospitals have supplies for symptomatic patients, elderly and health care workers.”

The information center emphasized that those who are well or have mild flu-like symptoms should stay home and avoid unnecessarily visiting the screening sites.

“The purpose of off-site testing is to reduce the burden to local hospital emergency rooms,” the information center said, adding that it’s up to each county to determine where to set up additional testing sites.

* Colleen Uechi can be reached at cuechi@mauinews.com.