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Drive-Through Coronavirus Testing Coming To Hillsborough

Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill said testing for coronavirus in a drive-through helps protect healthcare workers and allows them to get an efficient collection sample.
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The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

Officials with Hillsborough County and the city of Tampa have been identifying locations to open drive-through testing sites for coronavirus.

At a Tuesday morning news conference, Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill said testing for coronavirus in a drive-through helps protect healthcare workers and allows them to get an efficient collection sample.

"The other advantage of a drive-through is the healthcare workers who are collecting the samples don't have to change their protective gear every time they see a patient because they're driving through and they're just doing the tests one right after the other," said Merrill.

There's a shortage of protective gear right now, so he said this will help to solve that "big problem."

Merrill adds the goal is to open these coronavirus drive-through testing sites by Friday.

Although, they could be available as early as Wednesday.

Copyright 2020 WUSF Public Media - WUSF 89.7

Jessica Meszaros is a reporter and host of All Things Consideredfor WGCU News.
Jessica Meszaros
Jessica Meszaros is a reporter and host of Morning Edition at WUSF Public Media.