ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A drive-thru coronavirus testing site is now open at the University of Central Florida, according to school officials.
UCF officials said the site is for members of the community who have an appointment.
The school is working with Aventus Biolabs and tests will be conducted at Garage A at 12491 University Boulevard. The testing site has 7,000 tests on hand, but Aventus CEO Oliver Dawoud said it only has the capacity to perform 250 tests per day.
“We just think about it being about the test kits, but you still need a lot of other PPE. We need masks and disposable shields every day. We need to make sure we can get gloves and personnel," Dawoud said.
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The site will be open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., or until 250 tests have been performed.
UCF credits state Rep. Anna Eskamani for bringing together the public-private partnership to offer more access to COVID-19 testing in Central Florida.
“It shouldn’t have to be that hard, if you’re not feeling well and you have some sort of symptoms, you should be able to get a test. We’re not at that point right now and until we’re at that point, I don’t think Florida’s doing good enough," said Eskamani.
To schedule an appointment and have a test ordered for them, patients can contact Aventus at 855-282-4860.
To test at UCF, you must have symptoms and be prescribed a test by a healthcare provider. Then you can schedule an appointment. UCF said the test takes less than 10 minutes.
Those whose insurance does not cover the COVID-19 test, will be charged the Medicare rate of $51, according to Aventus Health.
UCF said students can obtain an ordered test from Student Health Services telehealth by calling 407-823-2701.
School officials said faculty and staff can obtain their ordered test from their primary care provider by calling UCF Health at 407-266-3627.
Aventus officials said they can connect patients with a telehealth provider by calling 855-282-4860.
Aventus Biolabs provides the nursing staff that performs the swab testing. The university is providing help from its student health department. Campus police are also on site monitoring traffic. Officials said they have enough Personal Protective Equipment to meet their daily test limit.
Aventus said patients will receive their results in 24 to 48 hours. Because their lab is only miles away, their testing techniques allow them to get a quicker result and they don’t freeze samples, so they only last two days.
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