First COVID-19 testing site in Miami-Dade for people without cars opens Tuesday
For Miami-Dade County residents without a car, accessing COVID-19 tests has been a challenge. All of the county’s mobile testing sites have required people to stay in their vehicles — until now.
On Tuesday, a walk-up testing site will open at Holy Family Catholic Church in North Miami, county officials said Sunday. Anyone with symptoms of the novel coronavirus, or who believes they’ve been in “close contact” with someone who tested positive, is eligible for an appointment.
Those requirements reflect loosening testing standards across South Florida, with age restrictions being lifted and some people without symptoms becoming eligible for the diagnostic nasal swabs.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said in a video address Sunday that North Miami likely won’t be the county’s only site to offer walk-up testing in the coming weeks.
“We’re also looking to expand walk-up testing sites at other county locations for those folks who don’t have a car,” Gimenez said.
The phone line to make appointments at the North Miami church site will open Monday at 9 a.m. for time slots up to 72 hours in advance. The number to call is 305-499-8767.
The site will be open Mondays to Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with appointments required to get tested.
Members of the Florida National Guard will help operate the site to ensure it’s safe, county officials said.
County Commissioner Jean Monestime, whose District 2 includes much of northeast Miami-Dade, said he hopes this will help expand access to testing for many people in the region who don’t have cars.
“Most people between North Miami and North Miami Beach and the surrounding areas, they access county government services mainly through mass transit,” Monestime told the Miami Herald. Getting the walk-up site in North Miami approved “took a little time,” he said, “but better late than never.”
Gimenez said Monestime, State Rep. Dotie Joseph and Deputy County Mayor Maurice Kemp worked with the Florida Department of Health to make the walk-up site a reality.
Some county and state officials had concerns that not enough people would utilize the site to make it worth opening, Monestime said. He encouraged people with and without COVID-19 symptoms to seek appointments.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has touted drive-thru sites as a safe, free and efficient way for elderly people or those especially vulnerable to the virus to get tested without potentially exposing themselves by leaving their cars.
But that has left people without cars, including many of the region’s poorest residents, with fewer options.
“The irony is that those people who don’t have cars have a higher risk of exposure and now have the least access to testing,” Azhar Chougle, the executive director of Transit Alliance Miami, told the Herald last month. “It’s strange and ironic.”
Broward County recently opened its first two walk-up testing sites in Fort Lauderdale and Pompano Beach.
The county and some cities have procured tests for homebound residents, most of which have gone to seniors with COVID-19 symptoms. Private health practices have also increasingly managed to procure their own tests.
Around 346,000 people in Florida had been tested for COVID-19 as of Sunday evening, according to state health officials. That’s about 1.6% of all residents in the state. In Miami-Dade County, that number is around 2.8%.
Public health experts say more testing is needed before the economy reopens and social distancing rules are relaxed. Gimenez said he will hold a press conference Monday about the details and timeline for reopening county parks, golf courses and marinas with restrictions in place, which is likely to happen this week.
