SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — Due to high demand for more COVID-19 testing, the county has opened up four new testing sites this week, which brings the daily testing capacity to 6,500 tests each day. It’s all part of an effort to make testing more available to people where they live.
“The more test sites we have, the easier people are able to access these sites,” said La Mesa resident Shanette Smith. “The more options the better.”
Shanette and her niece just came back from a family vacation in Cabo San Lucas, and they want to make sure they’re staying safe.
“We got tested in Mexico but I just wanted to be tested stateside,” said Shanette. “I work in health care and I want to make sure when I go back I’m not exposing anyone.”
Her niece Beyonce is grateful that a site opened up in Lemon Grove not too far from her home in La Mesa.
“Since people in the community do have their own jobs, they’re taking care of their families, they’re hanging out with friends, so they need a testing site near them,” said Beyonce Smith.
The Lemon Grove Senior Center and Northgate Market in El Cerrito have been up and running since earlier this week. A location at North County Lifeline in Vista opened today and another site in South Bay at the Border View YMCA will open on Sunday. Days and hours of operation vary from site to site, so people should be sure to check online before heading out to get tested.
“Now that we’re back on the resurgence for COVID,” said Lemon Grove resident Sean Lewis. “I think it’s important to get more sites out here for people so they can get tested quick.”
Sean Lewis brought his son to get tested out of precaution.
“My kid just had a slight fever, so just making sure that there’s nothing,” said Lewis.
The number of fully vaccinated people in the county is over 2 million or nearly 73% of eligible recipients. Unfortunately, 14 new deaths have been reported which occurred between June 1 and August 8, 2021. This brings the overall total of COVID deaths to 3,818 in the region. 11 of these patients had underlying medical conditions and 3 did not.
“It’s scary,” said Beyonce Smith. “I definitely don’t want to have COVID. I don’t want to experience the delta variant. We have to do our part to make sure it doesn’t spread even more.”
Given the potential for breakthrough cases with the delta variant, some people, even if vaccinated, aren’t taking any chances.
“It’s a little scary, you know, this thing keeps spreading,” said Shanette Smith. “I have a family member who has a friend who got the delta variant despite being vaccinated, so it’s really scary and we just need to make sure that we’re maintaining social distancing, washing our hands, doing our part.”
For details on the hours of operation of the new sites, please click here.
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