HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla (WFLA) – As COVID cases continue to climb, the need for more COVID testing is increasing as well.
Hillsborough County has now reopened two COVID testing sites to help meet the demand and enhance testing capabilities in the community.
County officials tell 8 On Your Side some people have been waiting days to receive a test.
“The same day appointments at local urgent cares were seeing 4.5 hours or longer and then other sites that were doing things days in advance it was like 2-3 days, but we’ve seen five days as well,” said Katja Miller with Hillsborough County Emergency Management.
These walk-in locations will be open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. However, the county announced the very first Saturday that due to high demand, it will close its lines at 3 p.m.
- Palm River Park Community Center, 725 S. 58th St. in Tampa
- 1101 E. 139th Ave. in Tampa
All testing will be conducted indoors. Five hundred tests per day will be available at each site on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Rapid tests will be administered, and PCR tests will be available upon request. Appointments are not needed.
County officials tell 8 On Your Side this is a fluid situation, they will continue to monitor numbers on a daily basis and adjust operations as needed.
“We’ve continued to entire time to monitor what the numbers were doing with the virus and the exposures that were happening, and we just continue to pivot and make decisions based off of that,” Miller added.
People being tested should bring a photo ID (driver’s license, state-issued ID, or passport) with name and date of birth, as well as their health insurance card (if applicable). Face coverings will be required except during the brief time when the sampling is done.