PEMBROKE PINES, FLA. (WSVN) - Testing for the coronavirus has ramped up across South Florida as more and more test sites, such as the one in C.B. Smith Park in Pembroke Pines, start to become operational.
Members of the National Guard along with healthcare workers from Memorial Healthcare System could be seen screening first responders at the park. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday during a news conference that the testing site at the park will be up and running for the general public at 9 a.m., Friday.
He added that no appointment is required for testing at the park, but the tests there will focus on first responders, healthcare workers and those over the age of 65 with symptoms.
“This is drive-thru only,” DeSantis said. “It is not going to be able to assist pedestrians or bikers to enter. Once you arrive to the testing area, a medic wearing a Tyvek suit will collect a sample with a swab of the nostril. Another service member will be responsible for scribbling the information from the patient’s placard to the biohazard bag, and another will be responsible for collecting the sample and placing it in the bag.”
DeSantis said those that do not meet the aforementioned criteria could be turned away.
The Cleveland Clinic has since opened the first drive-thru testing site in Broward County in Weston.
“We are doing the best that we can,” Carla McWilliams, an Infectious Disease Specialist at Cleveland Clinic, said. “We have never encountered a situation like this before. We would really like as many people as possible who have suspected coronavirus to utilize this service.”
For the sites, people are screened over the phone first, and only those with fever along with a cough or shortness of breath will qualify for the test.
It was a similar sight in Pompano Beach as testing through Broward Health began Thursday afternoon. Those who show up must have a prescription from a doctor and a scheduled appointment.
“We have a capacity here to start with about 300 tests per day,” Broward Health CEO Gino Santorio said. “The average wait time for getting swabbed while you ride up in your car is approximately three minutes, so it’s running very efficiently.”
However, at C.B. Smith Park, what will likely be the biggest testing site in the county, the set up continues with the help of the National Guard, and testing will be done through the Memorial Healthcare System.
“Memorial is going to take the information, identify the symptoms and then say, ‘OK, you show up at this time,’ and so we’re going to try to make it orderly,” DeSantis said on Wednesday. “We’re going to try to make sure that people can kind of get in and out.”
In Miami-Dade County, tents are up in the parking lot of Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.
Testing has not started yet at the site, but it has begun at Community Health of South Florida in Southwest Miami-Dade. For now, testing at that site is limited for patients of Community Health only, but they hope to offer the service to the general public soon.
Virus testing is key in stopping its spread, and people who are tested will get their results in three to five days. While they wait for the results, those who have been tested are asked to self-isolate.
“It’s stressful for everyone, not only for us as healthcare workers, but also for the public, but we’re going to stick through this,” McWilliams said. “We’ll be fine.”
There will also be a new site set up in Hialeah. City leaders are set to host a news conference on Friday to discuss testing at Larkin Community Hospital.
For a list of testing sites, click here.
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