DOH, County announce additional COVID-19 testing details

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DOH, County announce additional COVID-19 testing details
Posted on 04/29/2020

MANATEE COUNTY, FL (April 29, 2020) – The Department of Health in Manatee County and Manatee County Government will co-host another drive-through testing for Manatee County residents at the Bradenton Area Convention Center next week, May 6 - 8. 

Eighty Manatee County residents participated in the first day of drive-through testing at the Convention and Visitors Bureau. Another 160 are scheduled to be screened for COVID-19 tomorrow and Friday. View and download photos from today's event here

Department of Health in Manatee County is now forming a plan for how to offer no-cost public tests with an additional 1,400 COVID-19 test kits that were delivered from Tallahassee yesterday.

To date 3,629 Manatee County residents have been tested, meaning about .9 percent of the population has been tested. Of that group, 567 have tested positive for the coronavirus and 441 of those individuals have met CDC's time-based guidelines to be released from self-isolation.

MCR Health offers COVID-19 testing without a prescription or an appointment at five of its Manatee County locations. Manatee County residents who need to be tested for COVID-19 also have the option of visiting one of five MCR Health locations in Manatee County. There may be costs associated with MCR Health testing, based on a patient's insurance or ability to pay.

Note regarding beach parking: Manatee County Commissioners yesterday voted to open public beaches beginning May 4. A county staff workgroup consisting of Beach Patrol, Code Enforcement, Parks and others met for much of today to work through logistics for next week. Details for the public beach parking reopening will be announced tomorrow.

The collection dates at the Bradenton Area Convention Center next week are Wed., May 6 - Friday, May 8. The site will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day.  Specimens collected at the drive-through site will be sent to labs for testing. During the three-day event 300 specimen collection kits will be used, and the Department of Health will schedule up to 100 appointments on each of the three days.

Visitors to the collection site are asked to make an appointment in advance with Manatee County Health Department by calling (941) 748-0747In addition, everyone who arrives at the drive-thru must:

  • Be in a vehicle; no walk-up patients will be seen
  • Remain in their vehicle at all times
  • Present a photo ID with name that matches the name on the appointment
  • Produce proof of Manatee County residency (driver’s license, utility bill, etc.)

Anyone in Manatee County who believes they may have COVID-19 should call the Manatee Health Line at (941) 242-6649 BEFORE calling 911 or visiting a hospital emergency room.

View the latest on Manatee County's community-wide effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by visiting www.mymanatee.org/COVID-19 or text ManateeReady to 888-777. For more information on Manatee County Government, visit www.mymanatee.org or call (941) 748-4501. You can also follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/manatee.county.fl and on Twitter, @ManateeGov.