WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. — On Wednesday, AdventHealth began offering COVID-19 testing at its Center Ice location in Wesley Chapel.
According to the Florida Department of Health, 5,396 people had been tested in Pasco County as of Wednesday morning. That is less than 1 percent of the county's population. According to Dr. Rainer Chan, the testing site in Wesley Chapel can test up to 2,000 people a day.
Chan said this testing is an important service for the community as a whole.
"We think it's important right now with social distancing, and probably plans to reopen the community and lot of business, there may a lot of uncertainty, in terms of how to do so, so providing the testing site and being able to say that certain people are negative, we can have a little more reassurance when starting to look at these plans," Chan said.
Chan says AdventHealth will not be collecting anything out of pocket from patients at the testing site, and it's offering the tests for both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients.
"Certainly people who are symptomatic should be tested," Chan said.
In a statement, AdventHealth said, "AdventHealth will cover the cost of those who are uninsured." It says these tests will be done by coughing and spitting in a cup.
To pre-register to be tested at the Wesley Chapel site go to AdventHealthCoronavirusTesting.com or call 866-694-5503.
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