drive-up test - drive-thru test

[GoodTaste]

The definition of "drive-up" is "a place in a commercial establishment such as a restaurant or bank where customers are served while remaining in their cars". According to it, drive-up test is exactly drive-through tests. I am not sure.


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People seeking drive-up coronavirus tests in Phoenix faced a three-mile-long car line last weekend. On Friday, Arizona’s largest laboratory received twice as many samples as it could process.
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Many of Sonora Quest’s tests come from large drive-through sites that have not met patient demand. Equality Health, a network of medical clinics in Phoenix, had overwhelming demand at its drive-through testing event last Saturday.

Source: NYTimes June 25, 2020
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/25/u...l-arizona.html

 

[probus]

From the source material you have quoted it is clear that the New York Times considers "drive up" and "drive through" identical in meaning. I'd have thought "drive through" (or thru as it's often spelled in America) was much more common, but that may be just my region. Drive-throughs are enornously popular in parts of America. In Frorida, for example, virtually every bank offers drive-through banking. In Florida you can also buy beer, wine, liquor and of course food without getting out your car.

 

[GoesStation]

To me, a drive-up test involves parking in front of a building. When I had a drive-through antibody test, I drove to the parking lot of an arena, waited in a line of vehicles, and drove into a large pavilion tent. I got out of the car to have my blood drawn, got back in, and drove out. I literally drove through the tent.

I don't necessarily imagine that setup when I hear "drive-through testing", but I do see people driving through a lane of some kind.