Orange County COVID-19 testing site sees long lines despite drop in new infections

Testing to continue through June 30, county says

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – The COVID-19 testing site at Barnett Park reached capacity on Wednesday at 4:20 p.m., forcing the site to close early, according to Orange County.

News 6 spent Thursday at the site talking to people getting tested, to see what’s brought out longer lines in recent days.

Alexandra Galindo said she and her family are traveling to Colombia and needed a test prior to their trip.

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“We’re traveling for the summer, yeah, so we had to get tested because there’s a requirement for traveling overseas,” Galindo said.

She said she and her family were able to get the rapid antigen test in about 10 minutes and said they’d get the results within an hour of being swabbed.

Matt Hrochak said he came out yesterday to get tested but Barnett Park had already closed early but made sure to get there early Thursday. Hrochak said he was hoping for a negative test after testing positive for COVID recently.

“They said I was positive at the hospital; I got an IV and everything, and I feel better, but when I say I couldn’t breathe, for like days on end my whole body was sore,” he said.

For those looking to get tested, Orange County said no appointments are necessary at Barnett Park. According to the county, it will continue to offer COVID tests at the site through June 30 — seven days a week, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.