Free COVID-19 Testing To Continue At Former Sarasota Kennel Club

SARASOTA, FLA — Free coronavirus testing will continue to take place on a daily basis at the site of the former Sarasota Kennel Club despite reports last week that the testing location would be one that would be closed down.

The City of Sarasota announced Monday that the site, located at 5400 Old Bradenton Rd., will continue to provide free COVID-19 testing. Appointments are not needed to be tested and tests will be administered between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily and residents do not need to be showing symptoms of COVID-19 to be tested, the city said.

The site will be run through partnership between Nomi Health and the Florida Department of Health. City officials also encouraged visitors to visit local pharmacies such as CVS and Walgreens where coronavirus testing is being offered.

Dr. Jennifer Bencie, the health officer for The Florida Department of Health in Manatee County, announced at a meeting last week that testing sites in Sarasota and Manatee County would be closed by the end of the week. Bencie told health officials that testing at the site of the former Kennel Club was scheduled to stop on Sunday.

Bencie said that local officials had learned that the Florida Division of Emergency Management planned to close all of its testing sites by the end of May, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported.

State health officials had announced the sites would close because of low demand, but Bencie told local officials last week that the testing site at the Bradenton Area Convention Center is doing between 800 and 1,000 tests per day, the newspaper reported, and was seeing positivity rates over 10 percent.