BRADENTON (WSNN) – As Florida’s COVID-19 cases continue to rise, how long will be before all of us say we know someone with the virus?
It’s getting a lot closer to home as I now know three people with COVID-19, two of which are family members.
“I lost my taste and smell, and that has never happened to me before,” my cousin, Yesenia Isaza, said. “All of my congestion was on my chest, and it was like really heavy pressure on my chest, like painful pressure.”
Yesenia is 31-years-old and says started feeling symptoms back on June 16th after spending a weekend with her friends.
“When you least expect it, is the moment you let your guard down, when you think it can’t happen to you, it will happen to you,” Yesenia said.
Tuesday, she took her 6th test. She says out of all her tests she has only received one positive.
Epidemiologist, Dr. Scott Hopes, says the trick to testing is timing.
“Just because you tested negative, doesn’t mean you’re negative,” Dr. Hopes said. “It just means at the time we ran the test, there was not a measurable amount of virus in your respiratory system.”
He says it’s a challenge to determine the life-cycle of the virus within our bodies. Dr. Hopes says if you’re feeling symptoms or think you may have been exposed, you should wait a few days to get accurate test results.
So out of an abundance of caution, I’m taking a test. I went to the Home Depot testing site in Bradenton.
It’s open from 9-5 and has more than 300 tests. Before 9 am, the line surrounding the perimeter of the big box store.
Bradenton residents, Robert Drulia and Crystal Anderson, work in the restaurant industry and say they’re getting tested after they found out a coworker got it.
“I would say don’t assume if you’ve already had it,” Anderson said. “Go get tested if you have symptoms or not, just so you know, and you can be more proactive.”
Waiting in line can take hours. The test? Less than a minute. They put a swab up each nostril for about 10 seconds each, and then they give you a mask on your way and they show you how to access your test results.
Your COVID-19 test specimen is processed through Quest Diagnostics. You sign up online and can expect to get results around a week or so later. All testing centers are different.
“The rule of thumb until we’re in the clear and we’re not seeing this exponential increase in the number of cases. In order to protect our friends, our neighbors, and our extended family members, we really need to be wearing masks,” Dr. Hopes said.
There are four testing centers in Manatee County: the UTC Mall, Home Depot in Bradenton, Lincoln Park in Palmetto, and MCR Health facilities. There’s more information the Manatee County website.
