Friday, April 10, 2020

COVID-19 Testing Expands In Florida

Today, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced that, beginning Monday, April 13, three state-run COVID-19 testing sites will have increased capacity and expanded testing criteria. 

Sites will now support testing beyond the original federally mandated limit of 250 tests per day. Additionally, testing criteria will be expanded to include the following:

Anyone with symptoms, regardless of age.
All first responders and health care workers, including any staff members of long-term care facilities.
Anyone who believes they have been in close contact with an individual who has tested positive, even if they are not currently experiencing symptoms.

Under the original, federal criteria, testing at these sites was limited to individuals 65 and older with symptoms and health care workers and first responders.

The three state-supported testing centers that will have expanded capacity beginning Monday are:
Hard Rock Stadium in Miami
Orange County Convention Center
TIAA Bank Field Lot J in Jacksonville

Florida has so far tested more than 162,000 individuals for COVID-19 – or nearly one in every 140 Floridians — and is third in the nation for the total number of tests performed.

1 in 1,169 Floridians have tested positive for the virus. That is compared to New York City where  1 in 124 people have or have had the virus so far.

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