Volusia County residents seeking to verify whether or not they have contracted COVID-19 must now drive to Orlando or Jacksonville.





State Rep. David Santiago says about 2,500 coronavirus test kits have been sent to Volusia County and he hopes to have two drive-through testing sites operating before the end of this week.

Meanwhile, Flagler County officials are working on getting a drive-through test site of their own.

"We are finalizing the potential locations on both sides (East and West Volusia) and the protocols for the testing," Santiago told The News-Journal Monday morning. "The plan is a drive-through, but that may change."

Representatives of Gov. Ron DeSantis confirmed the plan and the en-route tests over the weekend, said Santiago, a Deltona Republican.

"They agreed they would help with supplies if I was able to ascertain the labor and security to facilitate it," Santiago said.

Jonathon Lord, Flagler County’s emergency operations manager, said during Monday’s County Commission meeting he has been partnering with the county Health Department and AdventHealth to get a drive-through test site in the county.

The top priority, Lord said, is getting health-care and emergency workers tested, then opening it up to others who are showing symptoms.

In Florida, a state of 21 million, about 116,000 people had been tested, according to state Department of Health statistics reported Sunday afternoon.

In Volusia and Flagler counties, residents seeking testing have either had to get it done at hospitals and private health-care facilities, or by driving to Orlando or Jacksonville.

One of those locations, Advanced EmUrgent Care, 1639 N. Volusia Ave., Orange City, has been doing the testing for about two weeks, said Christine Russell, the office manager.

"So far, we’ve tested about 40 people and all 40 came back negative," she said.

Advanced EmUrgent Care is testing outside its building to ensure the safety of other patients in the waiting room, Russell said.

The urgent care center has about 50 tests available, she said. The test involves a nasal swab and takes about five minutes; results come back in three to seven days. The center is screening people who request tests, requiring them to meet certain criteria, including showing symptoms of COVID-19.

In a Facebook video Santiago posted early Monday, he said he has heard from many constituents about the distance they must travel to get tested.

Volusia County School Board Member Ruben Colon, who works for AdventHealth as a clinical informatics specialist, talked with Santiago on Saturday about a Facebook post he’d made urging more local testing.

"We won’t truly know if our social distancing is working until we have the data," Colon said.

The hospitals offering coronavirus tests are limited to only people who meet strict criteria, including exhibiting symptoms that require hospital care. "We obviously need to save our tests for the surge and for patients who are critically ill," he said.

As a result, people who might have minor symptoms or have been exposed to others carrying the virus won’t know whether they have it, and officials won’t know when it’s safe to reopen society.

"Until we have testing, we won’t truly know if the numbers are going up or down," Colon said. "We’re going to bleed our small businesses to death because there’s no end in sight."

Representatives of Halifax Health and AdventHealth hospitals and the governor’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Daytona Beach News-Journal Staff Writer Nikki Ross contributed to this story.