The portable ID NOW device, which is the size of a toaster, has been used to test for Influenza A and B, Strep A and the respiratory syncytial virus. Abbott Laboratories, an Illinois-based company, adapted it to test for the new coronavirus, also known as the SARS-CoV-2 virus. According to Abbot, each device can run about four tests per hour, and results for some patients can be produced as quickly as 5 minutes after the test. DeSantis said the test could increase hospital capacity and efficiency when it comes to deciding, which hospital employees need to isolate. “When you have to wait 48-72 hours for a test result, those are people that you got to keep in the hospital,” DeSantis said.

AK Building Services’ Fort Lauderdale office is a 15-minute drive away from Port Everglades, where three COVID-19 patients worked for Metro Cruise Services, a cruise terminal operator.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Metro Cruise Services -- the employer of three of the four COVID-19 patients in Broward County -- released a statement on Tuesday saying they worked at various cruise terminals in Port Everglades. Metro Cruise Services President Anthony Newman said the company was unaware the three part-time employees were sick until public health officials notified them. Officials recommended employees of Metro Cruise Services at Port Everglades with any association to the COVID-19 cases to self-quarantine. Trouble is some COVID-19 patients can be asymptomatic while spreading the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and some patients’ symptoms won’t be apparent until after about 14 days. For more information about the cases, call the Florida hotline at 1-866-779-6121 or the COVID-19 Call Center at 1-866-799-6121.