SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – It’s a new way of testing for the coronavirus in Seminole County.

David Keshner is testing himself at this kiosk at Red Bug Lake Park.

“It was very seamless. Very smooth,” Keshner said.

Keshner tested positive for COVID-19 a week ago. He’s back to see if he’s now negative.

“It’s better to know because you still affect other people,” Keshner said.

Seminole County is partnering with Curative, the company running the testing kiosk. It’s a self-testing kiosk where workers guide people through the testing process.

It will replace the drive-thru and enable them to expand access to testing.    

“It’s going to be a real great asset for community here to continue that readily available testing for our folks,” Funk said.

Aarron Funk heads the testing effort for Seminole County and says the kiosks will also allow them to direct all their efforts toward vaccinations.

“It frees up our resources to focus again on continuing vaccination in the community,” Funk said.

But an FDA alert from January warns there’s a risk of false negatives with Curative SARS COVID 2 tests.

According to the FDA a negative result does not exclude the possibility of COVID-19.

Curative tells me their emergency authorization tests come with specific warnings and limitations, including to test people within 14 days of symptom onset.

They say the FDA alert was simply warning providers to use as directed.   

Curative said a recent study of 1,300 people showed no issues with false negatives or positives.

Curative said they submitted their recent testing data to the FDA around a month ago, but the agency has not yet released a review of it.

Those getting tested at the kiosk hope eventually they’ll be no more need for it.

“If everybody comes and gets tested, and we all figure the situation out together, soon or later it’s going to be gone,” Jeremy Frederick said.

This testing kiosk is open seven days a week and Curative plans to open a second one in Seminole County soon.