Getting easier access to coronavirus testing for kids

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Starting Wednesday, August 5, kids will be among those prioritized for getting coronavirus testing at state-supported sites in Florida. The Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) announced the changes to testing access Monday night.

Children under the age of 18, people who are 65 and older, and anyone with symptoms will all be prioritized for testing. The state says this is consistent with CDC guidance from July 17. Asymptomatic testing will still be available, but the state says its working to expedite results and make testing more accessible to “populations that need it most.”

Also included in the announcement is news that two state-supported sites in Miami-Dade County will begin offering rapid COVID-19 testing to symptomatic patients and those over the age of 65. At those sites, results will be available in 15 minutes. There are questions of whether the rapid testing will expand to other state sites in the future. Priority lanes at all other state-supported drive-thru test sites offer self-swab testing with results available within 72 hours.

State-supported drive-thru sites will also begin offering antibody testing. The state sees that as a way of helping with asymptomatic testing.

A list of all state-supported testing sites can be found at https://floridadisaster.org/covid19/testing-sites/.

Local pediatricians have been sending patients to Lot J for COVID-19 testing only to be turned away Local pediatricians have been sending patients to Lot J for COVID-19 testing only to be turned away

Cox Media Group