3 Sites to Provide COVID Testing in Miami-Dade on Christmas Day – NBC 6 South Florida

South Floridians looking for a COVID-19 test may be able to get one on Christmas Day.

Testing sites located at Tropical Park, the South Dade Government Center and Miami-Dade College’s North Campus will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.

The demand for tests came a day after Florida broke its record for number of reported cases — 31,758 new COVID-19 cases on Friday. The increase is being driven by the spreading new omicron variant. The previous record was in August during the height of the delta wave in Florida with 27,584 cases.

To help alleviate demand, county workers distributed 12,500 at-home COVID test kits Friday at Miami-Dade libraries before the supplies ran out.

Residents and visitors lined up at five locations throughout the county hours before doors opened at 8:30 a.m. At the Westchester Regional Library location, the first 1,500 kits were distributed in less than 30 minutes.

Miami-Dade Police were forced to turn away drivers from the library as people were stunned and frustrated with how quickly they were distributed. Another 1,500 kits arrived later Friday morning, but were also quickly handed out.

Every person was allowed to take up to three kits. Many told NBC 6 News they had sick family members at home and could not keep waiting.

“As we tackle the spread of omicron and the recent surge in demand for COVID testing, Miami-Dade County is doing everything we can to make testing as accessible as possible across our community – including by distributing free take-home rapid test kits to residents,” Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said.

Kits will be available at 27 library locations in Miami-Dade County on Monday.

If you need more information, please contact the participating library location or email [email protected] for assistance.