Florida National Guard opens coronavirus drive-thru testing site at Broward park
Florida’s National Guard has opened a COVID-19 testing center Friday at a park in Pembroke Pines.
Combat medics will be administering the test, which includes swabbing the patient’s nose, at C.B. Smith Park, 900 N Flamingo Rd., best known as the site of the annual Chili Cookoff.
The testing will run every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to a news release. The park is across the street from Memorial Health West.
As of Friday, the free test will only be administered to people who are showing COVID-19 symptoms and meet one of the following criteria:
▪ First responders and healthcare staff, including police, fire-rescue, medical staff and essential staff that is supporting the management agencies during the novel coronavirus pandemic. You must show I.D.
▪ People who are 65 or older with COVID-19 symptoms and have chronic conditions. You must show I.D.
▪ Individuals who are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and have recently traveled internationally on a cruise or plane or have a compromised immune system. You must show I.D.
Those who are eligible to be tested must arrive in a car or truck with a working window. Nurses wearing personal protective equipment will then screen the patients. Those who are approved will have a placard placed on the windshield and will be directed to the testing site. The test will be conducted through the window. Those who are not approved will be directed out of the park.
Officials are also asking drivers to make sure they have enough fuel in their car to wait in line for up to two hours. Drivers should enter the park at the intersection of Flamingo Road and Johnson Street.
Memorial Healthcare System, which will also have staff on the site to assist the Florida National Guard, will then notify the tested individual of their results within three to four days, according to a news release.
The testing comes days after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said additional help would be sent to Broward County, an area that until late Thursday, had the most positive confirmed cases in the state for the disease. Broward’s 96 confirmed cases is now surpassed by Miami-Dade’s 101 confirmed cases.
On Thursday, DeSantis — who held a news conference at the park — said 4,000 testing kits with swabs were delivered to the test site.
This story was originally published March 20, 2020 at 8:27 AM.
