Where to find COVID-19 tests in SWFL

We’re only in the second week of the school year and parents are already frantic trying to find a place to get their children can get a COVID-19 test. People are unable to work and  hemorrhaging vacation time for lack of one. So where can you go?

Lee Health, along with Curative, just opened a new testing site in For Myers on Monday, near Page Field at 5200 Captain Channing Page Drive. You have to schedule a free appointment on the Curative website for a PCR test, which takes around two days for results.

Where else in Southwest Florida can you get an appointment?

• CVS – CVS will administer a test to those without insurance who are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. Click here to go to the CVS testing website.
• Quest Diagnostics – Testing is available at a variety of locations, including Walmart, Quest Patient Service Centers, and other pop-up sites. Appointments are required at all locations. Test locations available to you may vary based on your location and whether you have symptoms. Click here to go to Quest Diagnostics website.
• Walgreens – Free COVID-19 testing is available to patients ages 3+. If you receive a Diagnostic Test and have insurance, you will be asked to show your insurance card at the appointment and the lab may bill your insurer. You will not receive a bill from Walgreens or from any lab partner. Click here to go to the Walgreens testing website.
• Other Locations – Visit the Florida Department of Health’s COVID-19 website to find more testing locations near you.

Walgreens’ testing demand doubled from June to July, with six out of the 10 Walgreens locations in Fort Myers completely booked throughout the rest of the week and no rapid tests available at all. At CVS, there are also no same-day tests available at all. The next available testing slot WINK News could find was Friday morning, but only at the CVS on Palm Beach Boulevard. At Walmart, you can purchase one of those $20 at-home tests, but you can’t get free overnight shipping on them, only on the at-home tests that cost over $100.

The president of Lee Health, Dr. Larry Antonucci, says testing is extremely important right now because of the situation we’re seeing in Southwest Florida hospitals.

“We are losing patients every day,” Antonucci said. “Patients are dying from this, and they’re patients in their 20s and 30s and their 40s, this is not like it was last year where the vast majority of deaths were people in their 80s and 90s.”

Lee Health and Curative say they are working to open two more testing sites.