Coronavirus Updates
News outlets have been providing daily updates with the number of new cases of Coronavirus contracted globally each day. While we want to ensure a proactive and aggressive response to all public health concerns, it is important not to cause panic. I am working with my colleagues to ensure U.S. Health officials have the resources they need to ensure adequate preparation at the federal, state and local levels to properly manage a potential Coronavirus outbreak. In the interim, senior doctors at the CDC ask that we all take the following steps to safeguard our families and our community against Coronavirus.
Wash Hands Often
Cover Coughs
Stay Home if Sick
See your Doctor if your symptoms persist
This page has been created to provide new and accurate information on the Coronavirus and the steps I am taking to ensure public safety.
Pasco County COVID-19 Testing Sites
AdventHealth
1127 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. Wesley Chapel
877-847-8747
BayCare at Gulfview Square Mall
Sears Auto Center 9409 US Hwy. 19, Port Richey
1-800-229-2273
CVS Pharmacy & Minute Clinic: 866-389-2727
- 12015 Little Rd. Hudson
- 13839 Little Rd. Hudson
- 7120 Ridge Rd. Port Richey
- 11938 US Hwy. 19 N Port Richey
- 7325 State Rd. 54 New Port Richey
- 10925 State Rd. 54 New Port Richey
- 5432 US Hwy. 19 N New Port Richey
- 3511 US Hwy. 19 New Port Richey
- 7071 Mitchell Blvd. New Port Richey
- 11500 Ridge Rd. New Port Richey
- 2513 US Hwy. 19 Holiday
- 2322 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., Lutz
- 5606 Post Oak Blvd. Wesley Chapel
- 30050 County Line Rd. Wesley Chapel
- 12804 US Hwy. 301 Dade City
- 34502 State Rd. 54 Zephyrhills
- 36440 State Rd. 54 Zephyrhills West
Care One
10435 US Hwy. 19 Port Richey
727-378-4477
Doctor’s Urgent Care
13256 State Rd. 54 Odessa
813-920-0023
Florida Medical Urgent Care
38021 Market Square Zephyrhills
813-715-0374
2352 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. Ste. 101, Wesley Chapel
813-929-3600
Med Express
8849 State Rd. 52 Hudson
727-863-7150
22945 State Rd. 54 Lutz
813-909-9099
Premier
14105 5th St.
Dade City
352-518-2000 Tuesdays
Suncoast Urgent Care
10730 State Rd. 54 New Port Richey
727-274-9138 Press 1
Wiregrass Direct Primary Care
2726 Windguard Cir. Ste. 102, Wesley Chapel
813-999-0505
COVID-19 Testing Locations in Pinellas County
Pinellas County COVID-19 Testing Sites
Drive-Thru Testing:
Tropicana Field Parking Lot 2
- Located on W side of the stadium off 16th St. S, St. Petersburg, FL
Free COVID-19 Testing, regardless of symptoms (no insurance required). Limit 4 people per car. - Tuesday – Saturday: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
BayCare at Ruth Eckerd Hall
1111 McMullen Booth Rd, Clearwater
- Insurance requested; those without coverage may qualify for financial assistance.
- Monday – Friday: 7 to 10 a.m.
Visit https://baycare.org/coronavirus/covid-19-testing-centers
1-800-BayCare (229-2273)
Community Health Centers of Pinellas (CHCP)
- Insurance card and ID requested – insurance will be billed for those insured, but no out-of-pocket charges for anyone, including uninsured.
Call (727) 824-8181 and select option 0
www.chcpinellas.org
CHCP at Clearwater
707 East Druid Road, Clearwater
- Tuesdays and Thursdays: 5 to 8 p.m.
CHCP at Pinellas Park
7550 43rd Street North, Pinellas Park
- Tuesdays and Thursdays: 5 to 8 p.m.
Walk-Up Testing:
AFC Urgent Care – Clearwater
1500 N. McMullen Booth Rd.
- Monday – Friday: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Saturdays & Sundays: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
(727) 266-1266
www.afcurgentcareclearwater.com
AFC Urgent Care – Pinellas Park
7101 U.S. Highway 19 N.
- Monday – Friday: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Saturdays & Sundays: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
(727) 201-8585
www.afcurgentcarepinellaspark.com
AFC Urgent Care – Seminole
11241 Park Blvd Suite A
- Monday – Friday: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Saturdays & Sundays: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
(727) 394-3828
www.afcurgentcarepinellaspark.com/seminole
AFC Urgent Care – Tyrone/St. Petersburg
2241 66th St N St.
- Monday – Friday: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Saturdays & Sundays: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
(727) 273-1700
www.afcurgentcare-stpetersburg.com
Your Kids Urgent Care – St. Petersburg
4040 49th St. N.
- Monday – Friday: 7 – 10 p.m.
Saturday & Sunday: 12 p.m. – 8 p.m.
(727) 526-6483
Your Kids Urgent Care – Largo
12190 Seminole Blvd, Suite A
- Monday – Friday: 7 – 10 p.m.
Saturday & Sunday: 12 p.m. – 8 p.m.
(727) 586-6483
Appointment Required:
Midnight Medicine, Inc. – Pediatric and Adult Urgent Care
Jeffrey A. Hirschfield, MD
6705 38th Ave N, Suite A, St. Petersburg
- Monday – Friday: 8 – 5 p.m. Extended hours are available; call for an appointment.
Saturday & Sunday: Call for an appointment
727-851-6160
www.pediatricurgenthealthcare.com
www.midnightmedicine.com
Any CVS location in Pinellas
Doctor’s Urgent Care
34621 U.S. Highway 19, Palm Harbor
- Appointment only with symptoms or exposure
- Monday – Friday: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Saturdays & Sundays: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
(727) 953-9888
www.yourdoctorsurgentcare.com
Federal COVID-19 Response in Florida Updated 8/21/20
Overview: Response and recovery efforts are locally executed, State managed, and Federally supported. Successful emergency management requires nationwide cooperation and unity of effort, combining the strength and ingenuity of our citizens and private sector with a sweeping, all-inclusive, and whole-of-government response. The below is a partial overview of Federal assistance provided to the State of Florida and the people of Florida to combat the Coronavirus. The information is bolstered by hundreds of additional actions by the Federal government to help the people of Florida. President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have appreciated the strong State-Federal partnership with Governor Ron DeSantis and other State, local, and Tribal leaders in Florida.
- The President quickly approved Florida’s major disaster declaration on March 25, 2020 and National Guard funding requests on March 28, 2020 providing additional Federal resources to supplement State response efforts.
- This year, over 2.7 M N-95 masks, 1.1 M surgical & procedural masks, 220 K eye and face shields, 190 K isolation & surgical gowns, and 1 M medical gloves have been shipped to Florida through private sector, State, and Federal collaboration.
- The Federal government has directly supported 33 community based testing sites in Florida and will be providing over 411,000 swabs and 411,000 media to support state testing needs in the month of August.
- The Federal government coordinated the surge of supplemental personal protective equipment to all Florida Medicaid & Medicare certified nursing homes. And to supplement private sector supplies, 446 of Florida’s Medicaid & Medicare certified nursing homes are receiving federally supported point-of-care COVID-19 testing.
- Previously deployed Battelle Critical Care Decontamination Systems to Florida that were capable of decontaminating up to 80,000 N-95 masks daily.
- Coordinated donation of 1,078 cases (40 vials per case) of Remdesivir and 2,253 cases of commercially available Remdesivir to treat hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Florida.
- Medical facilities and providers in the State of Florida have received over $5.3 B in COVID-19 related allocations from HHS. This includes more than $4.2 B from the CARES Act Provider Relief Fund to support healthcare-related expenses or lost revenue attributable to COVID-19 and ensures uninsured Americans can get testing and treatment for COVID-19.
- The State of Florida and eligible local governments received over $8.3 B from the CARES Act’s Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) to help address unforeseen financial needs and risks created by the COVID-19 public health emergency. Tribal governments received over $157.7 M in CRF funding.
- The Small Business Administration has issued over $32.2 B in loans to over 430 K Florida small businesses.
- The U.S. Department of the Treasury has made 11 M Economic Impact Payments totaling more than $18 B to hardworking taxpayers of Florida.
- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has made over $413.3 M in COVID-19 funding available to Florida grantees via CARES Act authorizations to help America’s low-income families and most vulnerable citizens.
- The U.S. Department of Education provided $370.1 M to support postsecondary education students and institutions of higher education in Florida, authorized $173.6 M for the State from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund, and $770.2 M to ensure learning continues for all elementary and secondary students.
- The U.S. Department of Transportation allocated more than $958.6 M to help the Florida public transportation systems and $896.1 M to help Florida airports.
COVID Press Release MA Part D Memo
COVID Press Release MA Part D Memo.pdf
COVID News Alert FAQs On Survey Guidance
COVID News Alert FAQs On Survey Guidance.pdf
COVID Press Release Home Health and ESRD Guidance
COVID Press Release Home Health and ESRD Guidance.pdf
COVID Press Release on Mask Guidance
3.10.20 COVID Press Release on Mask Guidance.pdf
Coronavirus Update Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K8RCFkZIfU&t=95s
CDC Fact Sheet:
CDC Fact Sheet What you need to know about coronavirus.pdf
CDC Fact Sheet What to do if you are sick.pdf
Florida Delegation Letter:
As a member of the Florida Delegation, my colleagues and I sent a letter to President Trump to express our desire for the administration to prioritize resources to prevent, respond to, and treat outbreaks of Coronavirus to states such as Florida that have current cases, a substantial senior population, and high levels of foreign tourism.
Full Letter Attached Below
Signed FL Delegation Coronavirus Letter 04 March 2020.pdf
IN WAKE OF CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK, REPS. PETERS, ENGEL, GUTHRIE, ESHOO, HUDSON, MCCAUL, SCHRADER, BILIRAKIS INTRODUCE BIPARTISAN BILL TO PREVENT CRITICAL ACCESS DRUG SHORTAGES
Coronavirus Appropriations:
I have recently supported and voted for a bill in the House which will provide $7.8 billion in emergency supplemental appropriations for the U.S. response to coronavirus.
Full Letter Attached Below
Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental.pdf
Florida Health Care Association Statement on Coronavirus
FHCA Statement on Coronavirus and Nursing Home Preparations to Keep Residents Safe
“The trained health care professionals at Florida’s nursing centers are taking the threat of Coronavirus most seriously, as the safety and well-being of residents and staff is always our highest priority. Our members are focused on minimizing the potential risks by boosting preventive actions and utilizing fundamental infection control protocols, including the use of eye protection, standard hand hygiene procedures, contact and airborne precautions, and other key practices within their centers.”
Preventive measures include daily cleaning of commonly touched environmental surfaces, using an EPA-registered hospital-grade disinfectant to decrease environmental contamination taking the steps necessary to optimize surveillance programs to identify cases, clusters, and outbreaks of disease; re-educating all staff – both clinical and nonclinical – on proper use of personal protective equipment; implementing policies to stop visitors who are sick from entering the centers, providing them with alternative ways to visit with their family members; and ensuring that health care providers avoid working while ill and developing policies to account for potential absenteeism during community-wide outbreaks.
FHCA has activated our standard emergency preparedness activities, including frequent calls with nursing homes and establishing a dedicated coronavirus web page at https://www.fhca.org/facility_operations/coronavirus. In addition, we remain in close contact with the Office of the Governor, the Florida Department of Health, the Agency for Health Care Administration, the CDC, and other state and federal partners to monitor the virus and communicate updated information and ongoing resources to our members.”
ABOUT THE FLORIDA HEALTH CARE ASSOCIATION
The Florida Health Care Association (FHCA) is a federation which serves nearly 1,000 members and represents over 500 long term care facilities that provide skilled nursing, post-acute and sub-acute care, short-term rehab, assisted living and other services to the frail elderly and individuals with disabilities in Florida. The mission of FHCA is to advance the quality of services, image, professional development and financial stability of its members. As Florida's first and largest advocacy organization for long term care providers and the elderly they serve, the Association has worked diligently since 1954 to assist its members with continuously improving quality of care and quality of life for the state’s growing elder care population. For more information about the Florida Health Care Association, visit www.fhca.org.
Update on Diagnostic Testing:
On March 4th, Vice President Pence announced that the COVID-19 test will be covered by Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance plans. HHS denominated the test to be an essential health benefit. In addition, CDC has expanded coronavirus testing to all U.S. patients with an order from a doctor for testing. According to the CDC, clinicians should “use their judgment to determine if a patient has signs and symptoms compatible with COVID-19 and whether the patient should be tested.”
Update on other Federal Actions:
Today, CMS released three memoranda to assist providers and labs in limiting the spread of COVID-19: guidelines for infection control in hospitals; guidelines for infection control in nursing homes; and discussion of the suspension of non-emergency infections.
CMS is suspending all non-emergency inspections to allow inspectors to turn their full attention to infectious disease control and abuse. Inspectors will be focusing on non-compliant facilities and those with active infection; inspectors will also respond to complaints of infection and serious threats like abuse allegations. CMS plans to focus attention on areas where there is significant activity, including Washington, California, and Florida.
More information on this announcement is available here.
CDC Awarding Initial Funding to State and Local Jurisdictions for COVID-19 |
Using funds provided to CDC through the HHS Secretary's Transfer, CDC will:
- Award an initial $25 million cooperative agreement to the states and local jurisdictions who have borne the largest burden of response and preparedness activities to date. This is an initial award for those jurisdictions who require immediate assistance for activities such as monitoring of travelers, data management, lab equipment, supplies, staffing, shipping, infection control, and surge staffing. Once supplemental funding is provided, support will be provided to all states and local jurisdictions for a variety of critical public health activities. Below is information specific to what State and County Health Departments are receiving in your State:
- Florida: $500 ,000
- Award an initial $10 million cooperative agreement to state and local jurisdictions to begin implementation of coronavirus surveillance across the U.S., building on existing influenza activities and other surveillance systems. This initial award is for a limited number of jurisdictions. Once supplemental funding is provided, additional support will be provided to all states and local jurisdictions to enhancing testing and surveillance.
CDC will use existing networks to reach out to state and local jurisdictions to access this initial funding.
For more information about this virus, please visit CDC’s website: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
For the latest information on the outbreak, visit CDC’s Novel Coronavirus 2019 website. For questions about CDC’s response to COVID-19, please contact the CDC Washington Office
· FDA: Emergency Use Authorization · FDA: Novel coronavirus (COVID-19) · CDC Strategies for Optimizing the Supply of N95 Respirators |