Sonoma County will launch two new sites for free COVID-19 testing on Tuesday, May 5, in Santa Rosa and Petaluma. Each will be open to all residents regardless of whether they have coronavirus symptoms or not.
The announcement comes after Governor Gavin Newsom’s plan to add more than 80 community coronavirus testing sites across the state.
“We are pleased to see that the State is stepping in to supplement local testing efforts”, said Board Chair, Supervisor Susan Gorin, “This will help us get reach our goal of conducting 600-800 tests per day, which will help us to understand the spread of COVID-19 here in Sonoma County – a critical step toward opening the County back up.”
The testing sites will open on Tuesday, May 5, 2020, and are provided through a State partnership with OptumServe, a leading health services innovation company.
Appointments are available on weekdays, and can be made at https://lhi.care/covidtesting. Residents without internet access can call 1-888-634-1123. Specific test locations and hours will be provided when making an appointment.
Tests are free to the public. If individuals have insurance, their insurance providers will be billed. If individuals do not have insurance, they can still get a test.
The two sites do not have a drive-thru option. Participants will need to get out of their car to get a test.
“These testing sites will help Sonoma County dramatically increase testing needs for individuals who have had limited access to COVID-19 tests up until now,” said Sonoma County Health Officer, Dr. Sundari Mase. “We’re thrilled to partner with the State and OptumServe to help ensure our communities are healthy, while also helping meet our own and California’s testing goals.
These new testing sites are a separate operation from the County drive-thru testing at the Sonoma County Public Health Laboratory, which is currently only for health care workers. Health care workers should still call 707-565-4667 to make an appointment with the County’s drive thru testing efforts.
“To determine where to locate new testing sites, the State looked at both rural and urban areas where Californians would have to travel between 30 and 60 minutes to reach an existing testing site or hospital. This information, along with an evaluation of where underserved populations live based on median incomes and known disparities, to give as many residents as possible access to testing regardless of socioeconomic status.
At maximum capacity, OptumServe will be able to support up to 80 testing sites at one time throughout the state, increasing total testing capacity by more than 10,500 tests per day. These sites enables the County to increase testing by more than 260 tests per day.
“Thanks to Sonoma County and to OptumServe for the collaboration to make these testing sites possible,” said Charity Dean, M.D., Assistant Director of the California Department of Public Health. “We’re working together as part of the state’s Testing Task Force to ensure regions with the greatest need have access to tests, and these sites are going to be a major component in reaching our testing goals.”
Find latest updates regarding the coronavirus emergency, local resources, and other helpful information at SoCoEmergency.org. Community members may also call 2-1-1 or text their zip code to 898-211 in order to text with a 2-1-1 operator.
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