OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – With the continuation of long lines for COVID-19 testing, one local leader is calling on the state to help Osceola County residents.
Commissioner Viviana Janer wrote a letter to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo late last month with a request to open a state-run mass testing site.
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“In a state of emergency, we always need either the state or the federal government or both to step in,” Janer said. “We’re at that point. We’re saying ‘Hey, we need you to step in. We need more testing.’”
Janer said the state hasn’t responded to her Dec. 30 request and the surge in demand brought on by the omicron variant has gotten worse.
“People are waiting sometimes for days in order to get tested for COVID,” Janer said. “My concern is, if people don’t get tested, if they are positive, they stay out in the public, they’re spreading it around.”
On Jan. 6, the Florida Department of Health issued new testing guidance, which called for fewer people to get tested if healthy. Details on the guidance can be found here.
Janer said regardless of the new guidelines, she’s doing what she can to ease testing concerns.
“You don’t want to be spreading COVID. I don’t think anybody wants that on their conscience,” she said.
For details on COVID-19 testing locations in Osceola County, click here.