ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WKBW) — Deja vu in Orchard Park. It's another week of testing with another 6,700 Bills fans and the same testing procedures at Bills Stadium, for the most part. The company running things says last week went well, but they're hoping to make it easier this time.
"There's been a bunch of meetings to discuss going forward and what we need to do, if there's anything we need to do differently," said Jon Cohen, MD, Executive Chairman at BioReference Laboratories.
BioReference runs testing for the whole NFL and they're running things again at Bills Stadium. This week, the goal is to make things happen even faster.
BILLS FAN TESTING:
— Taylor Epps WKBW (@taylor_epps_) January 13, 2021
Deja vu! Another week, another 6,700 Bills fans getting tested here in Orchard Park ahead of this weekend’s matchup against the Ravens.
Stay tuned to @WKBW this morning and I’ll tell you what’s changing this week. pic.twitter.com/oUPG4eV1bi
One potential change they're looking at is opening up earlier time slots, but that will depend on when Bills fans are free.
Another change this time around is registration. A couple hundred people showed up unregistered last week according to Cohen, meaning it took longer to get their information on site before conducting the test.
"It slowed us down, a little bit, not a lot, having people show up that didn't have all the information provided. We need them to provide all the necessary information so the state gets the information and they can eventually contact trace if anyone's positive. So I would say that's the biggest change. Don't expect to show up without an appointment," said Cohen.
This information helps the state with contact tracing, which NYSDOH is conducting right now after last week's game.
"There were 137 last count that were positive. So the state is making sure all those people have been contacted and know the results and contact tracing for them and who they've been in touch with," said Cohen.
And as a reminder, these tests are 98% accurate which means there is a chance for a false negative or positive. If you think that happened to you, BioReference says to go straight to your doctor.
Things begin at 6:30am and will wrap up around 8pm. BioReference is looking forward to more success out here at the testing site and the Bills are hopeful to keep the win streak alive on the field with Bills Mafia cheering them on.
