The Lee County Board of County Commissioners is reminding residents of available COVID-19 testing options, including new expanded hours and weekends at the local Florida Department of Health site. FDOH-Lee’s expansion comes as the Lee County Sports Complex testing site is phased out because of the upcoming Spring Training baseball season, officials said.

The FDOH-Lee drive-thru site is at 3920 Michigan Ave. in Fort Myers. The site will add weekend hours beginning this Sunday, Feb. 13, and will begin expanded weekday hours Monday, Feb. 14.

Moving forward, the testing site will be open 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Individuals can schedule an appointment online at https://testing.nomihealth.com/easy_registration/26/onsite or call (904) 295-0562 for more information.

Additional testing options in the area include:

* The U.S. Postal Service program to mail at-home testing kits directly to those who request the tests. Up to four tests per household can be requested and will be mailed directly to your home at no cost. To sign up to receive the at-home kits visit https://special.usps.com/testkits.

* Pharmacies, private physician offices, laboratories and public testing sites countywide. Testing resources can be found at https://floridahealthcovid19.gov/testing-sites/ .

* At-home testing kits available for purchase online and in retail pharmacies.

The Lee County Sports Complex testing site will be phased out by Monday, Feb. 14. Officials said the last day that the onsite vendor will administer tests at the sports complex will be Saturday, Feb. 12; the vendor will remove equipment from the site Monday.

Visit www.leegov.com/covid-19 for updates.

By the Numbers

As of Thursday morning, there were 170 COVID-19 patients isolated at Lee Health inpatient hospitals. Of those patients, five are being treated at Golisano Children’s Hospital.

As of Thursday morning, hospital census was at 95% of staffed operational bed capacity. Staffed operational capacity reflects the number of beds for which the hospital has adequate staffing, not the total number of beds within Lee Health hospitals. Overall bed capacity fluctuates hour to hour as the system discharges patients throughout the day who are ready to go home. Census in the intensive care unit was at 95% of staffed operational bed capacity on Thursday. There were 22 COVID-19 patients in the ICU.

On Wednesday, Lee Health emergency departments saw 787 patients.

Officials added that Lee TeleHealth is currently free and an easy alternative to avoid longer than normal wait times at urgent care centers.

Lee Health is making this service free for community members so they can utilize urgent care telehealth services from the comfort of their homes. This option allows anyone with non-life-threatening COVID-19 symptoms to avoid long COVID-19 testing lines, Lee Convenient Care locations and the emergency department. Lee Health emergency departments are not designated COVID-19 testing locations. The normal cost of a visit is $49.

“Lee TeleHealth is an on-demand medical service that connects patients directly with a physician or advanced provider and is available 24/7,” officials said. “All you need to use Lee TeleHealth is a smartphone, tablet or a computer with a webcam.”

To access Lee Telehealth, download the Lee Health app or visit www.LeeTelehealth.org.

–Connect with this reporter on Twitter: @haddad_cj