State-run coronavirus testing sites open at Home Depot stores in Oviedo, Leesburg

Up to 400 tests to be conducted daily at sites

OVIEDO, Fla. – Two new state-run testing sites opened Thursday in Central Florida.

The walk-up sites are located at the Home Depot at 1900 West State Road 426 in Oviedo and the Home Depot along Highway 441 in Leesburg.

According to state officials, both sites will be open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week.

A line formed at the Oviedo store before 8 a.m. Thursday.

Officials said up to 400 tests will be conducted daily.

"Anything to stop the spread of the virus," said Seminole County Emergency Manager Alan Harris.

The county does not manage the new testing site in Oviedo, but emergency leaders told News 6 they welcome more testing in the area.

“Oviedo has been a hot spot here in Seminole County. There’s been a lot of cases in Oviedo, very close to UCF and Seminole State College, the Oviedo campus,” Harris said.

Harris said he supports more residents getting tested as the county is working to stop the spread and reduce their COVID-19 cases. He said the county now has 33 testing sites.

”We want to make it available to people as they would like,” Harris said.

Patients must be at least 18 years old and must bring identification to the site. No appointment is required.

In addition, starting Friday the Orange County Convention Center will debut “symptomatic lanes” for people showing symptoms of COVID-19.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said it will help patients get their results faster since many tests are taking a long turn-around time.

To keep up with the latest news on the pandemic, subscribe to News 6′s coronavirus newsletter and go to ClickOrlando.com/coronavirus.


About the Authors:

Ezzy Castro is a multimedia journalist on News 6's morning team who has a passion for telling the stories of the people in the Central Florida community. Ezzy worked at WFOR CBS4 in South Florida and KBMT in Beaumont, Texas, where she covered Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Being from Miami, Ezzy loves Cuban coffee and croquetas!

Jerry Askin is an Atlanta native who came to News 6 in March 2018 with an extensive background in breaking news.

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