FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis held a news conference in Fort Lauderdale Friday to discuss a new concept for testing in high hit areas.
During the news conference, DeSantis announced the next phase of testing in Florida, walk-up testing.
The first walk-up site will be located in the same county that introduced the first drive-thru test sites, Broward County.
The sites will be located at Mitchell Moore Park and the Broward Urban League.
⚠️Two new walk-up COVID-19 test sites in Broward⚠️
— Broward County, FL (@ReadyBroward) April 17, 2020
◾️Mitchell Moore Park: 901 NW 10 St, Pompano Beach, open from 9AM to 6PM daily (except Thurs).
◾️@ULBroward: 560 NW 27 Ave, Ft. Laud., open Tues-Sat, 9AM to 6PM.
Appointments are preferred, but no doctor referral is needed. pic.twitter.com/OoqdNxaezu
According to the governor, it doesn’t matter your age or if you traveled. If you are showing symptoms, you can walk up and receive a test.
Officials said the test site will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m every day except Thursday. Each patient will be given a face mask and will follow social distancing guidelines.
An appointment is not necessary but can be made by calling 954-412-7300.
According to officials, the new site will only offer a limited number of tests per day.
“We’ll start with 200 tests a day and we’ll see where it goes from there,” DeSantis said.
Each client will receive a bag of resources when leaving the test site. County health officials will notify patients with results.
The first test site will operate in Broward County, however, the governor is looking at other areas like Miami Dade to implement walk-thru sites.
As of Thursday night, more than 23,300 Florida-related cases of the novel coronavirus had been confirmed by the Florida Department of Health.
There are currently over 3,400 patients being hospitalized due to the virus, according to health officials.
According to Gov. DeSantis, the vast majority in Florida who received positive status did not need to be hospitalized.
For more information on the coronavirus Floridians can test FLCOVID19 to 888777
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