PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — With this most recent spike in covid cases, the white tents are back, and long lines of cars filled with people waiting to get tested. At least one more site is preparing to open in Palm Beach county to try and alleviate the crush.
It is a scene that we are now seeing over and over again since the emergence of the omicron variant. Long lines filled with people waiting to get a Covid-19 test.
A testing site across from the Palm Beach county library in Palm Beach Gardens saw cars stretching out onto PGA Boulevard requiring traffic control from police.
“People have been responsible when they go get tested. The only thing is, at times the line gets too long and people get frustrated,” said Dr. Olayemi Osiyemi, an infectious disease specialist at Triple O Medical Services in West Palm Beach.
Dr. Osiyemi adds that frustration has been commonplace for the last few weeks.
High demand forcing some testing sites to stop allowing more traffic in hours before their scheduled closing times.
In Palm Beach county, a new site will open Monday. A ninth location will be at Caloosa Park in Boynton Beach right off Congress Avenue. It will be open at 9 a.m-5 p.m., seven days a week.
"The more places people can go, there's going to be fewer delays and people can get tested sooner and get the results sooner," said Boynton Beach Commissioner Ty Penserga. "That is key, because people need to get back to their jobs. They need to get back to life. They need to know whether they have been exposed as soon as possible."
Dr. Osiyemi said he expects to see case counts continue to climb for now.
“Given we just went through Christmas and new years. After that, I expect the numbers to go down again. What we need to be very vigilant about is, if you have symptoms. It is very important to get tested,” said Dr. Osiyemi.
County officials want to remind people there are many options available for getting tested, like at commercial pharmacies or at a doctor's office.
