City Closes COVID-19 Testing Site

At the Tuesday, May 25th City Commission meeting. the city manager, Peter Iglesias, pulled his item requesting additional funding in the amount of $50,000 to continue offering Covid-19 testing to residents. The Commission did not feel it made sense to continue testing and funding the site as doctors offices and urgent cares are now offering the service.

With approximately 1,000 residents tested, the city will discontinue testing while promoting third party test centers such as MD Now urgent care centers.

Gables Insider has requested official numbers and results of the testing. On May 18th the Mayor allowed for the re-opening of small businesses and restaurants with conditions.

Share:

19 thoughts on “City Closes COVID-19 Testing Site

  1. I find the decision to shut down the site to be tested for Covid-19 inappropriate, established, by the way, quite late, and removed now, quite soon. As many have commented, it is ridiculous to think that from a city where the highest county taxes are paid, its inhabitants have to go to other cities to be tested in times of national need. This is not a game, it is not a fashion, or something aesthetic, IT IS A SANITARY NEED. Commissioners, put your feet on the ground and adjust to meet the needs of the citizens of Coral Gables and make it not only the beautiful city but also the healthy city.

  2. There a couple current commissioners i did not vote for last election and certainly will not next time either, they have too much power that can be easily abused without citizens/taxpayer consent. I thank city manager Iglesias for trying to extend the testing. I see comments here about the antibody test FYI its inaccurate up to 50% of time so i dont trust it for 1 second. Covid19 is still out there lurking dont let your guard down. We also have a governor misleading with inaccurate death tolls specifically there’s about 2000 classified as pneumonia which most are Covid19 related even recently fired the woman responsible reporting Health department statewide stats cause she refused to fudge.

  3. People need to understand what they are paying for when it comes to their PROPERTY taxes, and need to know what a CITY government means…city services, as in FOR THE CITY. It’s not a freakin’ hospital with specialized staff. Get your butts up, take an Uber, whatever and go to the appropriate places. Geez, I never met so many lazy, self-entitled nitwits in my life.

  4. The title of this story in today’s Herald highlights a key reason for keeping our testing program open. “Florida sees largest COVID-19 case increase in over a month.”
    What incredibly bad, and dangerous, timing for the Commission to close down a highly valuable service for our community. It’s time to reverse this bad move.

  5. Dear Marta Fernandez, antibody testing is already widely available. Doctors can draw it in their office or you can walk into Quest and ask them to run it for you. In a short period of time more than a thousand people were tested at the Gables site. People want this service. We need to be ready for for a resurgence of cases as we open up. Have you walked Giralda? I did and it scared me.

  6. Absolutely unacceptable! We pay more than enough taxes to be able to get tested within our own city and not necessarily in a hospital setting where the risk of infection is quite high. The health crisis is far from being over and the City of Coral Gables simply decides to end testing for its residents at the exact same time it reopens for business as usual. For the love of God, how incompetent and inept can you be? Time to replace the mayor along with all commission members.

  7. Let’s replace the high-falutin’ “Art in Public Places” with the life-saving “Health in Public Places.” This commission doesn’t get it!

  8. The only safe way to reopen is to have in place the ability to test, trace and isolate. Without easy testing of symptomatic and asymptomatic residents you loose the ability to contact trace. It’s really simple. While the rest of the country is trying to ramp up testing, the Gables shuts theirs down. Protecting the health and wellbeing of residents is a government’s first responsibility. This will cost lives.

  9. I never give any comments because I feel that the city actually sends out decisions that have already been made, rather than get suggestions of advise.
    I’m this case, I find it ridiculous that the city can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars buying and placing art around the streets, parks and other locations yet suddenly decides that a much needed testing health location is unnecessary!

  10. Excellent decision! The testing site were empty most of the time. At this time of the game, people want antibodies test to see their immunity. Immunity to Covid-19 it is what people needs to stay healthy. Thanks

  11. And what about the promised antibody testing? What happened to that or did I miss it? I don’t think so. Very disappointed as that was to be provided to CG residents too at no cost.

  12. Very short sided decision. Physicians are not testing for actual infection in their offices only for antibodies which do not help detect who is currently infected. And walking into an urgent care center creates a big bill that depending on your insurance may prove very costly and inefficient. They also won’t test if you are not really symptomatic. Community testing sites like this one can be reimbursed by state and federal agencies. As we reopen, this type of testing is truly necessary to stay safe. Who’s advising the commission?

  13. As homeowners in Coral Gables we pay an absurd amount of taxes to live in this city. Shutting down a center that is for the well being of the city’s residents is a sign that it is time we remove all the commissioners and mayor. This is outrageous.

  14. Eggregious! For a City line CG to not have its own testing site within the city, it’s a bad business decision. Not sure if you’re aware, but the pandemic is nowhere close to being over! Where will YOU go and YOUR Family members go when they need to get tested? A community center?

  15. I completely agree with LCS comment. Testing the citizens of Coral Gables at no cost in a designated area makes a lot of sense. That is good and needed health care and it makes sense in the current and serious pandemic. We are living a true health crisis!! Ask for a Fed Gov grant. Why should citizens pay out of pocket for a test that demands NATIONAL prevention in a crisis? Stop wasting money in truly ugly metal sculptures at street intersections that are in total distaste and disharmony with the traditional theme ” Coral Gables, The City Beautiful”. Stop wasting money in transforming white lines pedestrian lanes to brick.

  16. Totally unacceptable. This is essential for our residents. One of the keys to stopping the pandemic is adequate testing, which needs to be readily accessible and convenient. This should be a top priority for city officials, particularly as businesses reopen.

  17. Yes, it makes sense to close it now. Our city´s numbers are good and this is an important expense for the city. We still have several free drives throughs for testing not far from here, so it seems like a good decision.

  18. Unacceptable. First you have to go into a facility where the public is, placing us at risk. Then it costs $149 without proper Insurance. Our City testing was a direct benefit for the citizens of Coral Gables. We pay for it through taxes. This is shameful of the City to stop testing. Shows where you priorities are at. Quit wasting our money in other places and support the people of Coral Gables.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *