Palm Beach County officials announced Tuesday that residents will soon have access to at least 45,000 at-home COVID-19 test kits from the state.

County Administrator Verdenia Baker, who originally requested a quarter million kits, said the county is expecting to receive 24,000 of those kits today from the Florida Department of Health.

“We are getting prepared to have regional distribution sites throughout the county to hand out the test kits,” Baker said. “It is not our intent to mail at-home test kits.”

In addition, county commissioners voted unanimously to allow Baker to purchase up to $500,000 worth of additional at-home coronavirus test kits — or roughly 20,000 kits — for residents.

Some sites have experienced wait times of at least two to three hours, forcing county commissioners on Tuesday to declare the testing situation an emergency.
Baker said the details and logistics of the test kit distribution are still being worked out, but she proposed the idea of giving them out at regional sites on a first-come, first-serve basis, saying it’s the “only way to do it fairly and equitably.”