The Power of Partnerships in Fighting COVID-19 

Since late April, the Florida Department of Health in Leon County, Florida A & M University, Bond Community Health Center, and the Florida National Guard joined forces to organize a COVID-19 free walk-up testing site. 

Our objective is to beat back the new coronavirus in our community.

The location is Bragg Memorial Stadium on the campus of FAMU.

Our partnership is rock solid.

So far, on this date, May 19, 2020, more than 5,736 individuals have been tested.

The site is attracting people from out of the state and out of the county.

At first, the plan was to close operations on May 8^th.

That didn't happen.

The community response has been huge.  It remains impressive.

There have been multiple extensions to the end of operations date, and the site has increased the daily capacity to 400 tests.

That’s double the initial amount.

The response strategy continues to evolve to meet the needs of underserved communities.

It’s week by week now, depending on traffic.

Testing centers like the FAMU site are in areas where people have limited access to testing.

The operation is set up close to neighborhoods where we know we have a high number of high-risk individuals.

These individuals have serious health conditions that not only make them more likely to get infected, but to have serious complications, that could result in death.

We had to get testing into these communities.

The testing cost is free, and no physical referral is needed. Individuals do not have to be symptomatic for testing.

This level of success in COVID-19 testing at FAMU demonstrates the power of community partnerships uniting in both sickness and in health for the good of the people we serve.

Community, university, health care partners, and local media are fighting the good fight and going the extra mile together in the COVID-19 crisis.

To find the most up-to-date guidance and information on COVID-19, please visit the Department of Health's dedicated webpage at floridahealthcovid19.gov

*Pamela Saulsby | Public Information Officer

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