ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — The COVID-19 testing site at Tropicana Field closed early for the second consecutive day as the area continues to see a high demand for testing.
BayCare, which runs the site along with the county, says testing will resume Wednesday at 7 a.m. The site is open Monday through Thursday this week from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. but closed Friday. In subsequent weeks, it will operate Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Testing is first-come, first-served, while supplies last.
The location opened one week after BayCare closed its Pinellas drive-thru test collection site in the Carillon office complex in north St. Petersburg. The site, which had operated for 14 weeks, saw demand triple in one week, causing traffic problems for neighboring businesses and testing more than 700 in its last two days of operation.
8 On Your Side has also repeatedly heard from viewers who have struggled to get access to coronavirus tests throughout the bay area. It’s an issue we brought to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ attention when he visited Tampa last week. DeSantis told us capacity would be expanded at testing sites and that the state would help if needed.
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