City of Opa-locka, State of Florida, and Miami-Dade County Opens New COVID-19 Walk-Up Testing Site

OPA-LOCKA, Fl. —The City of Opa-locka, the State of Florida, and Miami-Dade County opened a new walk-up testing site Tuesday to provide COVID-19 coronavirus testing to symptomatic and asymptomatic members of the public 12 years old and older. 

The Community Based Testing Site (CBTS) is located at Sherbondy Park, 380 Bahman Avenue, Opa-locka. The CBTS will be open daily, seven days a week from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. beginning Tuesday, May 19, 2020. The CBTS will have the ability to conduct 200 tests per day.  

"It is crucial to ramp up testing in the City of Opa-locka so we can get a more accurate idea of the spread of COVID-19 in our community," said City of Opa-locka Mayor Matthew Pigatt. "It is also crucial for everyone in the community to have access to testing, to better protect themselves and their families. Our goal is to ensure that anyone living in Opa-locka has access to testing, particularly those with COVID-19 symptoms, as well as those who work in a setting where they may have frequent exposure.”

“This expanded testing is critical to ensure that we keep improving our communities’ public health,” said Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez during the Monday news conference.

The CBTS is open to the public and free of charge. The testing criteria for this site will be for all symptomatic and asymptomatic patients who are at least 12 years of age. A doctor’s note or prescription is not needed to be eligible. Patients are encouraged to call (305) 499-8767 to pre-register prior to arriving at the site, but walk-ins are welcomed.

“This site will allow the community, whose income level may not afford them the opportunity to have a car, to walk up and get a test done, because a lot of us don’t know if we have the virus or not,” said Miami-Dade County Commissioner Barbara Jordan during a news conference Monday. Jordan said the site’s location also expands access to communities of color, which several reports and health experts have shown are at greater risk from COVID-19.

For more information on COVID-19 and the City of Opa-locka’s response, visit http://opalockafl.gov/coronavirus.