New COVID testing site opens for Manatee County schools before class starts back

The School District of Manatee County has announced the launch of a COVID-19 testing site for school employees and students amid a nationwide case surge fueled by the omicron variant.

In a message sent to 6,000 employees on Sunday, the school district urged caution in the second semester, saying anyone with symptoms or pending test results must stay home until they’re symptom-free and cleared to return.

Teachers returned from the holiday break on Tuesday, and school district spokesman Mike Barber said a similar message would go out to families before the return of students on Thursday.

The testing site at John H. Marble Park, 3675 53rd Ave. E. in Bradenton, opened on Tuesday and will operate weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The site is solely students and school district employees, along with Manatee County government staff, the message said, noting that a school or district ID was required.

Marble Park previously hosted a testing site for the school community before it closed in November, when COVID-19 cases were on the decline, and its relaunch on Tuesday came at a critical time.

As COVID-19 cases rose throughout Florida, home test kits became hard to find in Manatee County, while testing appointments at chain pharmacies, such as CVS and Publix, became more scarce.

And residents who traveled to the Bradenton Area Convention Center, One Haben Blvd. in Palmetto, reported waiting more than two hours for a test during the winter break.

The demand for testing has spiked with the emergence of omicron — a highly contagious but seemingly mild variant — and record-breaking case numbers in Florida, including the 85,707 new cases and 61 deaths reported on Monday.

It was the largest multi-day increase of newly reported cases since the pandemic began in March 2020, the Miami Herald reported.

In the week ending Dec. 30, Manatee County logged 2,844 new resident cases, bringing the resident case total to 69,705.

The weekly report also said that 261,071 people — about 67% of the county’s vaccine-eligible population — received at least one dose of a vaccine.

And though Manatee County public schools recorded only one COVID-19 case on Dec. 21, the day before winter break, the recent surge poses a threat to the low case numbers enjoyed by schools in recent months.

To track daily COVID-19 cases in local classrooms and district offices, visit the online dashboard at manateeschools.net/covidDB, which will begin updating after students’ return Thursday.

“Working together, we can help weather this surge just as we did with the one at the very beginning of the school year,” Sunday’s message to school employees said.

This story was originally published January 4, 2022 at 2:19 PM.