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The Villages
Friday, March 29, 2024

Governor promises drive-through COVID-19 testing ‘Villages style’

Gov. Ron DeSantis in Saturday’s press conference.

Gov. Ron DeSantis is promising drive-through COVID-19 testing “Villages style” and it appears ready to take place at The Villages Polo Fields.

In a press conference Saturday afternoon, DeSantis touted drive-through Coronavirus testing to be made available to Villagers, a senior population found to be uniquely vulnerable to the mysterious new virus.

The governor said he will be in The Villages on Monday to help roll out the testing effort here in Florida’s Friendliest Hometown.

Tents were being organized Saturday for what appears to be drive-through testing at The Villages Polo Fields.

The governor’s office would not confirm it, but it is believed that the drive-through golf cart testing at the polo fields will be provided by UF Health, which has a partnership with The Villages and owns the hospitals in Florida’s Friendliest Hometown and Leesburg.

The governor, a frequent visitor to The Villages, predicted that the drive-through golf cart testing would be something that Villagers “would buy into.” He said that type of community support would be crucial to the success of the testing venture.

If the drive-through testing is “golf cart only,” that would appear to limit it to Villagers and not be available to outsiders who do not have golf cart access to The Villages. 

DeSantis also offered some encouraging news on the testing front.

“Even the people with fever and cough who test, the vast majority are coming back negative,” he said.

DeSantis again praised the “social distancing” efforts in Florida’s Friendliest Hometown and said those efforts could serve as a model for the rest of the state.

Florida recently partnered with private laboratories around the state to expand COVID-19 laboratory testing capacity.

“This partnership will increase the number of tests conducted each day and ensure Floridians receive the critical health information they need in a timely manner,” the Florida Department of Health said in a release issued Saturday.

“Expansion to private laboratories changes the COVID-19 testing landscape in Florida. Private laboratories are running tests as they receive swab samples from practitioners. Testing and reporting times vary among commercial and DOH laboratories,” the Department of Health said.

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