Monroe County’s COVID-19 Testing Task Force has been working together over the last few weeks to review the testing capabilities, prioritize resources, and determine the testing needs of the county. The task force consists of members from Monroe County’s hospitals, private practices, nonprofit health care organizations, and government sectors. The task force reports multiple increased testing opportunities and capabilities and an improved capacity for those needing a test. These enhanced efforts will help better track the spread and prevalence of COVID-19 in Monroe County, and identify potential outbreaks in advance and effectively respond.
Recent actions the testing task force has taken to respond to COVID-19
• CHI (Community Health of South FL) Marathon Health Center is conducting free viral and antibody testing. Viral testing is offered every Saturday from 11am to 12:30pm by appointment. CHI conducted two events—drive through testing event in Marathon on March 28 and walk-up testing event in Key West, Bahama Village on May 11. More information forthcoming on future testing days. Call (305) 216-2107 or email KeysCovid19@chisouthfl.org.
• Rural Health Network offers free viral and antibody testing in Key West by appointment. RHN conducted a screening and testing event in Key West, Bahama Village on May 7. More testing events are planned. Call (305) 517-6613.
• Good Health Clinic provides free rapid response serology antibody tests to patients. Through a partnership with Dr. Stan Zuba, testing is also conducted in the Upper Keys.
• Commercial labs, such as Quest and LabCorp, can conduct viral and antibody (rapid) tests. LabCorp currently conducts testing at Walgreens in Key West with a prescription.
• Advanced Urgent Care can conduct both viral and antibody tests and can test those with minimal to no symptoms. They have locations in Key West, Marathon, and Key Largo. They have conducted over 400 COVID-19 tests in Monroe County since May 13. Patients can pre-register for testing and download the Antibody Screening form at www.urgentcarefloridakeys.com, or call (305) 294-0011.
• Dr. John W Norris III MD PA provides oral and nasal virus screening, as well as blood antibody testing. Call (305) 296-1022.
• Keys AHEC conducts viral and antibody testing for current patients and extended family members at all its sites.
• Islamorada, Village of Islands has committed $50,000 to pay for COVID-19 testing for uninsured Islamorada residents, including those over the age of 65, at risk, and any resident who wishes to be tested regardless of symptoms. More information is forthcoming.
• Lower Keys Medical Center provides rapid COVID-19 testing for patients in the community whose healthcare providers determine that they meet the criteria. Pre-operative COVID-19 testing is also performed four days prior to a surgical patient’s scheduled procedure.
• Baptist Health South Florida – Fishermen’s Community Hospital and Mariners Hospital emergency rooms offer COVID-19 testing to patients exhibiting severe symptoms or require hospitalization. Community members can also use the Baptist Health Care On Demand telehealth app for a virtual consultation to assess symptoms and determine next steps.
• Since day one of this pandemic, DOH-Monroe’s epidemiologists have been the only group conducting in- depth contact tracing with all confirmed cases in Monroe county with the formulation of a timeline of when their illness started and communicating with all close contacts of such cases. Calls are made to confirmed cases and their close contacts daily.
Bob Eadie, Health Officer and Administrator for the Florida Department of Health in Monroe County says “With increased testing capabilities in Monroe County, support functions, especially contact tracers, are critical. Contact tracing is a key strategy for preventing further spread of COVID-19 and the department has ramped up efforts for contact tracing to monitor contacts of infected people and ensure the effective isolation of contacts.” The department is working with Medical Reserve Corps, Keys Health Ready Coalition, the Incident Management Team, and the Agency for Health Care Administration to meet needs to conduct contact tracing.
The testing task force continues to work together to provide improved adequate testing in Monroe County. DOH-Monroe is also working with partners to do whole-community testing in the near future.
About Viral and Antibody Testing
There are two kinds of COVID-19 tests – viral tests and antibody tests.
• Viral tests (Polymerase Chain Reaction – PCR test) tells you if you have a current infection. May take between two and seven days to get results. Testing is done through the nose or throat.
• Antibody tests tell you if you had a previous infection. This rapid test can provide results within 10 minutes in some cases. This test may not be able to show current infection. Testing is done via finger prick or blood draw. A viral test may still be needed to ensure you are not infectious. It is unknown at this time if having antibodies to COVID-19 can protect someone from infection again, or how long the protection may last.
In addition to those listed above, the following are additional testing sites (subject to change):
• Keys Medical Group, Key West, (305) 293-4073
• Key West Medical Center, (305) 295-6790
• Key West Urgent Care, (305) 295-7550
• Urgent Care, Key Largo, (305) 453-0666
About the Florida Department of Health The department, nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board, works to protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county and community efforts. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at @HealthyFla. For more information about the Florida Department of Health please visit www.FloridaHealth.gov.
