Gov. DeSantis said the state of Florida will be rolling out millions of new rapid antigen tests to the state’s most vulnerable populations at nursing homes, long-term care centers, and retirement homes.
DeSantis said Florida is receiving 6.4 million tests on top of what the federal government is shipping out. They come in a box and do not need a lab to analyze, but a nurse has to administer it.
“It is a swab that goes in both nostrils but not one of the swabs that gets up in your brain,” said the governor at a news conference Tuesday morning at BayCare’s Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater.
Results are back in 15 minutes.
“It’s almost like a pregnancy test,” said DeSantis.
And it’s more accurate than other testing, the governor said.
“If you’re positive, you’re positive, I don’t think it’ll have a lot of false positives,” said DeSantis.