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Hillsborough County closing Adventure Island drive-thru COVID testing site

Hillsborough County is closing the COVID-19 testing location because of the decreasing demand for testing.

TAMPA, Fla. — The Adventure Island testing location will permanently close at 5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 20. Hillsborough County leaders say the reduced demand for testing has led to the closing.

The previous story is down below.

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Hillsborough County will be opening a free COVID-19 testing site in the parking lot of Adventure Island.

The drive-through site opens at 9 a.m. Monday, Jan. 24, at 10001 N. McKinley Dr. in Tampa. No appointments are needed. 

People will pull into the parking lot off East Bougainvillea Avenue, then follow the signage to get their test administered. 

This new location, as well as the three other COVID-19 testing sites in Hillsborough County, all offer free tests without needing to make an appointment.

All sites offer PCR testing, which provides results in about 48 hours, and rapid antigen testing, with results in about three hours. Each location is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Hillsborough County Testing Locations

  1. Adventure Island parking lot
    • 10001 N. McKinley Dr., Tampa, FL 33612
    • Drive-thru site
    • Permanently closing 5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 20
  2. The Hillsborough Community College Brandon campus
    • 10451 Nancy Watkins Dr., Tampa, FL 33619
    • Drive-thru site
  3. Progress Village Park
    • 8701 Progress Blvd., Tampa, FL 33619
    • Walk-up site
  4. West Tampa Community Resource Center
    • 2103 N. Rome Ave., Tampa, FL 33607
    • Walk-up site
    • Also offers:
      • Vaccinations
      • Pfizer pediatric vaccinations
      • Booster shots
      • Monoclonal antibody treatments. 

People wanting monoclonal antibody therapy treatment must make an appointment

The West Tampa Community Resource Center site also offers the COVID-19 Pfizer pediatric vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 who are accompanied by their parent or legal guardian to verbally confirm the child's age.

Credit: 10 Tampa Bay

When you need a test, you typically need it immediately. If you're looking to skip the lines of people or cars, you can opt to buy yourself a COVID-19 test to self-administer. As demands skyrocket, so do the possibility of scams when purchasing at-home test kits. 

RJ Toledo owns his own fraud investigations company and is a former FBI investigator. When it comes to buying tests, look first to the stores you know and trust. 

"As much as you possibly can, you need to go to a reputable site or a store you know is going to be there tomorrow," Toledo said. "If you go to a pop-up site in a parking lot somewhere, you have no idea if they're going to be there tomorrow or next week."

The same goes for shopping online. Make sure the sites you purchase from are credible. If you opt to buy from an online marketplace, Toledo recommends you think through how you plan to pay. 

"Buy with a credit card because you can always dispute it," he said. "There is always something you can do to try and fight it afterward if there turns out to be a problem. Paypal is a little bit less so, but they do have some reassurances there. Never pay cash. never ever pay with a check."

If you can't find tests in stores and buy from an individual reselling a test, make sure to check their reviews. If a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is. 

You can check to see if your at-home COVID-19 test is FDA approved by clicking here

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