New testing sites opening in Manatee County for district employees and students

MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. (WWSB) - Starting on Friday, Manatee County School District employees, students, and Manatee County government employees will have access to a new COVID-19 testing site.

The new testing site is located at John H. Marble Park and will offer the PCR rapid test. This site originally opened on Tuesday with PCR tests only.

The PCR rapid test is approved for asymptomatic students needing to test to return to school from a quarantine. All tests are free and with the rapid test, results are normally available within one hour or less.

The Marble Park site is located at 3675 53rd Ave. East in Bradenton and is only open for school district employees, students, and employees with the Manatee County government. A school or district ID must be shown to be tested. This site is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

In addition to that site, the School District is working with MCR Health to set up two additional testing sites starting Monday, September 13. Those include:

Manatee Elementary School MCR Health Center - 1609 6th Ave. East in Bradenton
Southeast High School MCR Health Center - 1200 37th Ave. East in Bradenton

Both of those sites are open for district employees and children attending a Manatee County school. You must show a school or district ID to be tested. These sites run Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. There is no appointment needed.

These testing sites will use approved COVID-19 rapid tests that provide results within 15 minutes. In addition, these sites will also provide PCR tests, which can take two to three days for a result. MCR Health testing is free and will require a consent form before testing.