Drive-Through Coronavirus Testing Sites To Open In Tampa Bay

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill said the county is identifying locations for drive-through coronavirus testing sites and hopes to have them open by Friday.

Merrill made the announcement at a news conference Tuesday.

The advantage is those who suspect they have coronavirus won't have to leave their cars and risk exposing other people, he said.

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"The other advantage of a drive-through is the healthcare workers who are collecting the samples don't have to change their protective gear every time they see a patient because they're driving through, and they're just doing the tests one right after the other," said Merrill.

Since there is a shortage of protective gear, the drive-through system will resolve the problem, he said.

BayCare To Open 7 Drive-Through Sites

In conjunction, BayCare Health System announced it is launching drive-through testing sites at seven urgent care facilities. The drive-through testing sites will only be open to BayCare patients who've been referred by their doctors for tests.

BayCare hopes to open the drive-through testing sites Wednesday.

The locations of the drive-through facilities are:

• BayCare Urgent Care (Carillon), 900 Carillon Parkway, Suite. 106, St. Petersburg

• BayCare Urgent Care (New Port Richey), 4821 U.S. 19, New Port Richey

• BayCare Urgent Care (Countryside), 3351 N. McMullen-Booth Road, Clearwater

• BayCare Urgent Care (Tampa), 3440 W. Dr. MLK Jr. Blvd., Suite 100, Tampa

• BayCare Urgent Care (New Tampa), 17512 Dona Michelle Drive, Suite 5, Tampa

• BayCare Urgent Care (Bloomingdale), 2442 Bloomingdale Ave., Valrico

• BayCare Urgent Care (Haines City), 36245 U.S. 27, Haines City

To provide resources for the drive-through sites and BayCare's telemedicine platform, some BayCare facilities will temporarily close.

They include:

• BayCare Urgent Care (St. Pete Beach), 6455 Gulf Blvd. St. Petersburg
• BayCare Laboratories (St. Joseph's Women's Hospital Medical Office Building), 4321 N. MacDill Ave. Tampa
• BayCare Laboratories (River Crossing), 8603 Easthaven Court, New Port Richey
• BayCare Laboratories (Carillon), 900 Carillon Parkway, St. Petersburg
• BayCare Laboratories (Bloomingdale), 2470 Bloomingdale Ave., Valrico
• BayCare Laboratories (Palm Harbor), 3890 Tampa Road, Palm Harbor
• BayCare Laboratories (Clearwater), 210 Jeffords St., Clearwater

• BayCare Laboratories (St. Anthony's Hospital Medical Arts Building), 560 Jackson St., Suite 301, St. Petersburg
• BayCare Laboratories (Bartow Regional Medical Center), 2000 Osprey Blvd., Suite 204, Bartow
• BayCare Laboratories (New Tampa), 17512 Dona Michelle Drive, Tampa
• BayCare Laboratories (Sunset Point), 2362 Sunset Point Road, Clearwater
• BayCare Laboratories (Winter Haven South), 1130 1st St. S., Winter Haven
• All Walk-in-Care kiosks located at selected Publix stores are currently closed.

Testing process

To be tested through the Florida Department of Health, the person must have had close contact with a laboratory-confirmed coronavirus case and must have fever or symptoms of lower respiratory illness (cough, shortness of breath).

A person who is tested will have up to three specimens taken: oral, nasal and sputum, which is a mixture of saliva and mucus coughed up from the respiratory tract. Samples will be given to the Florida Department of Health and, from there, shipped or delivered to a laboratory that can carry out the test. Test results are typically available within 24 to 48 hours.

Related:

• County Issues Order Closing Restaurants At 10 PM: Coronavirus
• Drive-Thru Testing Site For Coronavirus Opens In Florida
• Governor Orders Florida Bars Closed Due To Coronavirus