TAMPA, Fla. — Hillsborough County Emergency Management said its caseload for Coronavirus has increased by more than 60 percent, and of those, 61 percent of patients are under the age of 35.
What You Need To Know
- State to take over Raymond James Stadium testing site, expand testing
- Hillsborough Dept. of Health: Covid-19 cases increasing
- PREVIUS STORIES: State reports 5,000-plus cases Thursday
- CORONAVIRUS LIVE UPDATES: In the Central Florida area | In the Tampa Bay area
Florida Governor Ron Desantis this week announced increased testing and assistance from the state for local governments to perform tests.
The governor said by next week, the state will take over the Raymond James Stadium drive-up testing site in Tampa, and increase testing capacity there by more than 400 percent.
Currently, the Raymond James drive-thru testing site is only open on Tuesday's and Friday's and tests between 100-1,400 per week.
The Governor said by next week the state hopes to have the site open five days a week, performing at least 1,000 tests per day.
He says a new testing site at Tropicana Field, and expanding other sites will dramatically increase testing capacity.
"I spoke with the head of Baycare. They’re going to do a site at Tropicana Field," said Gov. DeSantis. "So we’re going to support if they need swabs if they need support we’re going to do that and also some of our other drive-thru sites, we’ve expanded the lanes so that people are able to get through."
A recent spike in positive cases in Florida has forced other states to force quarantine Florida residents that are traveling.
New Jersey, New York and Connecticut all imposed 14-day quarantine orders on Florida residents traveling to those states.
Sign up now for one of our newsletters that will show up in your inbox every weekday at 1 p.m. The newsletters highlight the most important stories of the day that you need to know for your area.