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The COVID-19 testing site staffed by FIU students and faculty in partnership with Miami-Dade County, the Florida Department of Health, and the Miami-Dade County Fair & Exposition tested its 10,000th patient on May19.
Of those tested, about 7 percent have been positive. With South Florida – and particularly Miami-Dade County – leading the state in confirmed cases, the drive-thru testing site at the fairgrounds has played an important role in helping the community limit the spread of the disease.
“Testing is key to understand how the virus behaves in the population. It helps us understand its transmission rate,” said Dr. Eneida Roldan, the CEO of the FIU HealthCare Network and Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine (HWCOM) associate dean who serves as clinical director for the testing site. “This test tells us if you are infected. Expanded testing such as serologic testing will tell us who has been infected and is now immune. Both support the need to continue with expanded testing.”
About 300 people each day are tested at the site. To qualify for testing, a person must be at least 12 years old and does not need to be experiencing symptoms associated with COVID-19.
Appointments are available seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The entrance to the testing site is on Southwest 107th Avenue and 20th Street. Appointments must be made by calling 305-499-8767. The call center opens at 9 a.m. and takes appointments for the following day until all the slots are filled. The call center then closes until the next day at 9 a.m.
Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine staff supervise the clinical operations, which include volunteer faculty and students from the medical school, the Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences, and the Robert Stempel College of Social Work & Public Health. The FIU Division of Operations and Safety provide operational and logistical oversight with support from Miami-Dade County.
Of those tested, about 7 percent have been positive. With South Florida – and particularly Miami-Dade County – leading the state in confirmed cases, the drive-thru testing site at the fairgrounds has played an important role in helping the community limit the spread of the disease.
“Testing is key to understand how the virus behaves in the population. It helps us understand its transmission rate,” said Dr. Eneida Roldan, the CEO of the FIU HealthCare Network and Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine (HWCOM) associate dean who serves as clinical director for the testing site. “This test tells us if you are infected. Expanded testing such as serologic testing will tell us who has been infected and is now immune. Both support the need to continue with expanded testing.”
About 300 people each day are tested at the site. To qualify for testing, a person must be at least 12 years old and does not need to be experiencing symptoms associated with COVID-19.
Appointments are available seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The entrance to the testing site is on Southwest 107th Avenue and 20th Street. Appointments must be made by calling 305-499-8767. The call center opens at 9 a.m. and takes appointments for the following day until all the slots are filled. The call center then closes until the next day at 9 a.m.
Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine staff supervise the clinical operations, which include volunteer faculty and students from the medical school, the Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences, and the Robert Stempel College of Social Work & Public Health. The FIU Division of Operations and Safety provide operational and logistical oversight with support from Miami-Dade County.