Long lines and potential shortages of COVID-19 testing kits were once again seen in South Florida Monday as the rush was on to get tested ahead of the holidays amid a rise in cases.
At Tropical Park in Miami-Dade County, the line for Covid testing stretched back into the eastbound and westbound lanes of Bird Road Monday.
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At Jose Marti Park in Miami, people waiting in line for a test were told they were running out of rapid tests Monday.
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And at the Salvation Army site on West Flagler Street in Miami, it was announced that they'd run out of PCR tests, although a new batch was on the way.
Most walk-up and drive-through sites in the county were seeing long lines as Florida reported close to 30,000 new Covid cases in the state last week, more than twice the amount reported the week before.
Miami-Dade County's latest weekly dashboard showed Covid cases have increased 334% from Dec. 10 to Dec. 17.
Some of that case increase is due to the omicron variant, which infectious disease experts have confirmed is circulating in South Florida. Omicron spreads faster than any previously detected variant.
Moderna reported Monday that its vaccine booster does appear to provide protection against the omicron variant. It reported preliminary dats from its lab testing that found the booster increased antibody levels to neutralize the virus.
Booster shots are available at dozens of vaccination sites across South Florida, including at Tropical Park.
Despite the large increase in cases, hospitalizations in Miami-Dade have not seen dramatic increases, according to the county dashboard.
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