Orange County COVID-19 testing site reaches capacity every day this past week

8th day in a row Barnett Park hits capacity before closing

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Orange County’s COVID-19 testing site at Barnett Park in Orlando reached capacity before 3 p.m. on Wednesday.

This marks the the eighth day in a row the site, which has been so busy that lines of cars snaked beyond the fairgrounds, has reached capacity.

[TRENDING: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s free!)]

“Once the wait time gets higher than the amount of hours that we’re going to keep this site open, then we proceed to close the line just to make sure that everybody that’s in line actually gets tested,” said Daniella Sullivan, Orange County’s health services program administrator. “We have been averaging around 1,200 to 1,300 tests per day.”

The increase in testing prompted health leaders to reopen another testing location. Econ Soccer Complex will be accepting patients for COVID-19 testing starting Dec. 27.

Orange County health administrators told News 6 the majority of people getting tested are those who want to make sure they’re healthy so they can travel and gather with family over the holidays.

“There is a mix of people getting tested for traveling reasons and also people getting tested because they got exposed in a family gathering or because they want to make sure they are negative before they get a big group of people at home,” Sullivan said.