JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Friday that antibody testing will start in Lot J at TIAA Bank Field on Saturday for first responders and health care workers. The governor said 100 tests can be done per day and the results will come back in 15 minutes.
He made the announcement during a visit to Dolphin Pointe Health Center in Arlington, where they are now taking care of COVID-19 positive patients who live at other long-term care facilities.
“Here is a good example of really leveraging great resources that improve the safety for everyone, but particularly for our senior citizens,” DeSantis said.
The skilled nursing facility will care for positive patients that do not need to be hospitalized but still need to recover before returning to their nursing home or assisted living facility, according to the governor.
“Those residents are able to come here in a secure environment, in an environment where they are able to effectively isolate COVID-19 positive patients and obviate a potential outbreak at some of these other facilities,” DeSantis said.
As of Friday morning, the governor said 17 coronavirus-positive patients are being treated at Dolphin Pointe and they are expecting roughly seven more in the next 24-48 hours.
“This is saving a lot of lives,” said Geoff Fraser, an owner of Dolphin Pointe Health Center. “I think we get lost in the fact that we have a lot of numbers out there, but these are real, decent, good people that need our help, and it’s amazing what these folks are doing in there on the frontlines and risking their lives.”
The governor also announced they are now requiring long-term residents who go to the hospital for any medical care be tested for COVID-19 before returning to their long-term care facility.