TAMPA -- Faced with a surge in COVID-19 cases, and a surge in demand for COVID-19 testing, several Florida communities are adding testing options.
Hillsborough County, which has had one mass testing site open at 2104 North Rome Avenue, is adding a second site at Progress Village Park, 8701 Progress Boulevard. Both sites are scheduled to be open severn days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. However, both will be closed Friday and Saturday for the New Year's holiday. The county has also set up two sites operating those days with limited testing capacity. Those are at the Lee Davis Community Center on North 22nd Street and the Plant City Community Resource Center on North Michigan Avenue in Plant City. The two limited sites will open at 9 a.m. Dec 31 and Jan 1, with about 1,000 test kits each per day. Supplies are expected to run out and residents are urged to monitor the county's social media for updated information.
The city of Tampa is opening its own COVID testing site Friday, or rather reopening one at Al Lopez Park. It'll operate from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and will remain open through the New Year's holiday.
In Pinellas County, the state Health Department says it's opening a site at 7150 114th Avenue North in Largo, with testing available seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. This joins a site at the Center for Health Equity in St. Petersburg. Both sites will be closed Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.
Tests are also available through private pharmacies.
Some Florida communities are reaching out with home testing kits. In Volusia County, Family Health Source will give away free QuickVue home COVID testing kits, on Thursday between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. The locations are the parking lot at S. Alabama and E. Hubbard Avenues in DeLand, and 1200 Deltona Boulevard in Deltona.
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