COVID testing centers see two-hour waits as cases surge, infection concerns increase

Even though he's vaccinated, retired Lake Worth police lieutenant Bob Wallace needs a COVID-19 test so he can have long-awaited knee replacement surgery next month.

But when he learned there was a two-hour wait for tests at the Mid-County Senior Center on Wednesday, he decided to find other options.

"It is what it is," he said as he left the government complex on Lake Worth Road. "You can't fret over it."

Since the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus began infecting thousands of Palm Beach County residents this month, private testing centers have been overwhelmed, said Dr. Alina Alonso, director of the county's state-run health department.

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When demand soared, so did the wait time for test results, Alonso said. Some people weren't finding out if they tested positive for the disease for five to seven days.

Instead of self-quarantining, many went on with their lives, possibly infecting others, she said.

Testing centers reopen as infection concerns rise

In response, the county this week reopened shuttered testing centers, such as one at the South County Civic Center near Delray Beach, and opened new ones, including one at the Palm Beach County branch library in Palm Beach Gardens.

In all, five testing centers are in operation and more will be opened in the coming days, county officials said.

"We are trying to assure access to testing due to the increase in demand for testing and the increase in time for lab results to come back," Alonso said.

But, as Wallace and others discovered, the waits are long.

The health department and the tax-funded health care district are also continuing to offer county residents additional opportunities to get vaccinated. Some of the testing centers are also offering shots.

At the same time, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday announced that the state was opening a monoclonal antibody infusion center at Westgate Recreation Center near West Palm Beach.

It will be open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will be able to treat about 300 people a day, DeSantis said during a news conference at the center.

The treatment, made by pharmaceutical giant Regeneron, was purchased by the federal government. So people will receive it at no cost.

The so-called antibody cocktail, which President Donald Trump received when he was infected, has been approved for emergency use in people in the early stages of infection. It doesn't work if people are seriously ill.

The elderly, those with chronic health problems and others who are at high-risk if they contract COVID-19 can register for the treatment at patient portalfl.com.

DeSantis, who has traveled the state this week touting the benefits of the treatment, said it will help reduce skyrocketing hospitalization for COVID-19.

The one in Palm Beach County is the fifth to open across the state, and DeSantis pledged to open another dozen in the days ahead.

Specialists says masks greater priority than Regeneron

While DeSantis decried the lack of publicity about the treatment, a group of local physicians have been promoting it for more than six months.

In February, leaders of the West Palm Beach-based T. Leroy Jefferson Medical Society held a news conference to appeal to DeSantis to make the treatment available, particularly in hard-hit minority communities. Nothing happened.

Dr. John Rubin, a Boca Raton internist, said the treatment is effective for some people. But, he said, it is more important to stop people from being infected in the first place.

"DeSantis is using this to save face to sound like he is doing something for COVID, when what he really needs to do is focus on masks (extremely critical right now) and vaccines," he said.

The Associated Press on Wednesday reported that the CEO of a Chicago-based hedge fund, which has invested $15.9 million in shares in Regeneron, is one of the top donors to a political committee that is supporting DeSantis' 2022 re-election. The hedge fund, Citadel, has $39 billion in investments.

Christina Pushaw, a spokeswoman for DeSantis, disputed the notion that there was any link between DeSantis' support for the therapy and the $10.7 million in campaign contributions from Citadel CEO Ken Griffin.

Further, she told the news service that the hedge fund has far greater investments in vaccine-makers Pfizer and Moderna.

During the news conference, DeSantis said he has been unfairly criticized for not promoting vaccines.

"We worked incredibly hard, and since December there's not been one single issue that we've devoted more time to than distributing the vaccine," he said.

He said the numbers back him up. "We are the top-vaccinated state in the Southeast, and we are better than the national average, and we're the leading state in prioritizing the vaccination of the elderly and senior citizens," he said.

According to the most recent weekly report from the Florida Department of Health, 54% of state residents over the age of 12 are fully vaccinated and 65% have gotten at least one shot. Those under 12 can't be vaccinated.

Nationally, 59.6% of those over the age of 12 have been vaccinated and 70.2% have had at least one shot, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Florida continues to lead the country in new infections, the CDC said. It recorded 21,669 new cases on Tuesday, pushing the seven-day total to another record high.

Palm Beach County is averaging more than 1,300 new cases a day, more than at any time during the pandemic.

The number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 units is also soaring. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported that 17,069 state residents were hospitalized Wednesday for treatment of COVID-19, a 10.4% increase in a week.

Those seeking tests had plenty of reasons, thoughts about vaccines

DeSantis insisted that infusion therapy will help keep many people from being hospitalized.

And those who have had the treatment described it as a game-changer.

Suburban Lake Worth resident Curtis Davis said his symptoms improved dramatically after he got an infusion after he contracted the virus in May.

Unfortunately, his girlfriend, Penelope Wimberly, was recently exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19. So they both showed up at the senior center on Wednesday to get a test.

The couple said they decided to get vaccinated in May. Then, they both got COVID-19 and had to wait. If they test negative, they said they planned to get a shot.

Those who lined up for tests had various reasons for doing so.

Some were families with young children who had been sent home from school because they had fevers or coughs that could signal they had been infected.

Stan Purnell said he has an unvaccinated roommate, who recently tested positive for the virus. Although he has been vaccinated and didn't feel ill, he said he wanted to make sure he wasn't infected.

"I don't want to give it to others," the 25-year-old West Palm Beach man said.

Andrew Sierra said he has been trying to get a negative test since he contracted COVID-19 three weeks ago. Although he feels fine, he said the tests keep coming back positive.

"My nostrils are sore," he said of the 10 times he has been swabbed in recent weeks.

Until he gets two consecutive negative tests, he said he can't return to work. Because he works on commission at a furniture store, he said that means he isn't getting paid.

Still, he said, he has no plans to get vaccinated and would leave his job if they made it mandatory.

"I've heard both sides of the story," Sierra said. "I don't feel safe until they do more studies. It's been rushed. We're like guinea pigs. I'm not willing to do that."

Wallace, the retired Lake Worth police officer, said he has been vaccinated since March. Still, when he went to JFK Medical Center for tests before his surgery, he tested positive.

While he feels fine, he said he can't have surgery without a negative test. He said he understands why the hospital is taking precautions.

"What is frustrating is everyone had the opportunity to get vaccinated, but some didn't, and now everyone is paying for it."

jmusgrave@pbpost.com

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