Mar-a-Lago Was a Petri Dish. Testing Nearby Is Still a Mess.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/mar-a-lago-was-a-petri-dish-coronavirus-testing-in-west-palm-beach-is-still-a-mess
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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.—A much-needed drive-thru coronavirus testing site opened here Monday, just a few miles from the Mar-a-Lago Club, home to the country’s most high-profile COVID-19 exposure. A week ago, President Donald Trump and a few top aides hosted a festive dinner with Brazilian officials, some later found to be ill with the novel coronavirus.

Despite repeated assertions from White House officials that tests will soon be available to anyone who wants them, residents here found the reality much different. Of the 6,000 people who called for an appointment and hundreds who drove up on Monday, just 65 were able to get tested. Testing officials said they had 80 test kits left for future patients and announced Tuesday they would not take any more appointments.


What’s more, contrary to experts saying that tests would be restricted to those who need it, among those who managed to get the test was at least one worried well person without symptoms and without an increased risk of exposure.

Jay Wolfson, a professor of public health at the University of South Florida in Tampa, said he sees the “potential irony” of communities close to Trump’s home struggling to meet testing demands after the president boasted earlier that anyone could get a test. But he said the situation here Monday showed how ill-prepared the country is for the pandemic.