JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – With thousands of people getting tested for COVID-19 everyday in Florida, some parents are scrambling to find testing locations for their children.
Many testing sites in the area don’t offer tests for young people. Jason Flanagan told News4Jax that after his 8-year-old daughter first returned to summer camp, she began showing symptoms of becoming ill.
“We were trying to find places we could take her to and get seen, and a lot of the places we were going were saying, yes, we do COVID testing, however, we only do it for adults,” Flanagan said.
Flanagan looked at other options, but continued running into a wall.
“Making appointments was coming in at several days to almost a week out,” he said. “Our primary care was able to see her, however, they weren’t able to do the test and get results in the time frame that we needed.”
LINKS: Duval, St. Johns report record increases in COVID-19 cases
After not successfully being able to get the young girl tested at several locations, Flanagan said he eventually took her to the Baptist and Wolfson Clay Emergency Room.
Flanagan said his daughter’s results came back negative. He’s hoping that’s the last time she’ll have to get tested.
Megan Denk with Wolfson’s Children’s Hospital said that after hearing concerns from parents and pediatricians about not finding testing sites for kids, they have created a list of all the pediatric testing locations in Jacksonville.
The sites include Avecina Medical, Carespot Urgent Care, Crucial Care, the Florida Department of Health in Duval and the Legends Community Center in Jacksonville.
LINK: Pediatric COVID-19 testing sites in Jacksonville
“The biggest thing we want families to know is that they can still come to the emergency room if their child is symptomatic, but we prefer that they go to a community site if they’re looking to just have a quick screening and test,” Denk said.