DeLand, FL - More than 3,000 antibody tests have been given since it began on May 4 at the Volusia County Fairgrounds. State Representative David Santiago said he's amazed at how the public is accepting it and wanting to have answers as to whether or not they were ever exposed to COVID-19.
Santiago said that he has learned that the site in Volusia is the only location testing at this capacity and people are coming here from other parts of the state. "We've had people, this morning, I met a lady from Orange County, Orlando, she drove up early this morning to get tested here. We've had people from Ft. Lauderdale, Jacksonville, all parts of the state are now coming to this site because they want answers."
The first two days after the site opened, they ran out of testing kits quickly and had to close early. Santiago said they are now open every day until 5 p.m. and have been able to accommodate everyone that shows up. "We had a huge surge the first couple days plus we had to do some tweaking to the process to be more efficient. We got a really well-oiled machine now. We've been opening up early actually. We're scheduled from 8:30 to 5 p.m. but we've been opening almost every day at 8 a.m."
Next week is scheduled to be the last week of testing but Santiago said that's subject to change. "Next week, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday is our scheduled last week here. And, if the demand continues high, then we will potentially consider expanding that longer if we get all the approvals."
Santiago said of the lab results that have come back, there have been 40 that show antibodies. He couldn't say how many results have come back.
If you'd like to be tested, no appointment is necessary. The test is done as a rapid finger-prick blood test.
