HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — It's a move representing a new phase in the Tampa Bay region's response to the COVID-19 pandemic: Hillsborough County plans to close its last testing and vaccination site this week, and the local state of emergency is coming to an end.
The rollbacks come as the area continues to see declining case numbers and a decrease in demand for people getting the free test or the jab. As of last Thursday, the county's test positivity rate had fallen to 2.9 percent.
Rome Avenue's West Tampa Community Resource Center will permanently shut down as a testing and vaccination site at 5 p.m. on March 16. Until now, it had offered walk-up testing and shots, including Pfizer's pediatric doses.
"Hillsborough County will continue to monitor COVID-19 case numbers, surges, and variants in the community to determine if there is ever a need to open a testing or vaccination site in the future," the Hillsborough County Emergency Operations Center wrote in an email.
People seeking tests or vaccinations are being encouraged to visit local pharmacies. The county has more information available here.
The county said it would let its local state of emergency expire on March 17. That designation was first issued way back on March 12, 2020, and gave local leaders expanded abilities to make swift decisions related to health and safety. It also paved the way for federal reimbursements for expenses like county-level vaccination efforts.
The expiration of the state of emergency comes just a month after the county lifted its face-covering requirement at government facilities.
People in Hillsborough County can sign up for emergency alerts by clicking here.