SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - It has been a busy day for people to get tested at Tropical park, and lines haven’t changed much and aren’t expected to as cases continue to go up.
Testing sites across Miami-Dade and Broward counties are seeing long lines persist after the Christmas holiday.
As omicron cases continue to rise, South Floridians are waiting for hours at sites to get tested.
7News cameras captured the line of vehicles at Tropical Park weaving around slowly.
On Friday, the state reported its largest single-day increase of newly reported COVID-19 cases since the pandemic started.
Miami-Dade County reported 52,435 resident cases in the week ending on Dec. 23.
The concern now is that number was reported before people gathered for Nochebuena and Christmas Day.
“We gathered on Christmas Eve, so some of our families are having the symptoms, so we just want to know,” said one woman waiting to get tested.
“I have to go back to work, so they are requesting a negative test, so I have to do it,” said a man waiting to get tested.
7SkyForce hovered over several COVID-19 testing sites all with a similar scene: long lines of vehicles.
The backup of vehicles at Tropical Park was so bad, the cars spilled onto Bird Road.
“I don’t have any symptoms, but long lines are frustrating,” said the man waiting to get tested. “It’s causing a lot of trouble back there, you know, people trying to skip the line. I think we need more police presence here.”
The traffic chaos at CB Smith Park in Broward County caused the site to close nearly an hour early.
Pembroke Pines Police had tweeted that traffic had still filled up along Flamingo Road, from Taft to Johnson.
“The police was good about closing up the line, so I think they’re going to honor the line of people that are here, you know already here,” said a woman in line.
In early Decemeber, Florida was seeing daily case increases that ranged from around 1,600 to 4,000. The new daily number for the past 10 days is now ranging from 6,000 to more than 30,000.
On Monday, the CDC changed some of its guidelines for people who test positive for the virus.
If you become infected or come in contact with someone who has COVID-19, you can now isolate or quarantine for five days instead of 10, as long as you are asymptomatic.
Then they recommend wearing a mask for five days after that.
Officials said their new rules are based on science, adding COVID positive cases are infectious two days before they develop symptoms and three days a after.
“If you haven’t gotten your booster shot or you got vaccinated a long time ago, you should be careful,” said Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber.
As of Monday Morning, Jackson Health System said they currently have 212 patients who have tested positive for COVID-19.
For those who want to test in private, Miami-Dade County is passing out thousands of free at-home rapid testing kits at libraries.
The Miami-Dade Mayor said there are 30 sites in the county where people can get tested for free.
For a list of Miami-Dade libraries distributing at-home testing kits, click here.
For a list of COVID-19 testing sites in Miami-Dade County, click here. To find vaccination sites, click here.
For a list of COVID-19 testing sites in Broward County, click here. To find vaccination sites, click here.
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