San Luis Obispo County is expanding its testing for the Coronavirus, following the lead of the State.
“More testing is absolutely essential to understanding the local epidemiology of this disease,” Dr. Penny Borenstein, SLO County Health Officer said in a news release. “This partnership is an important step in the right direction.”
Testing began Monday by appointment only, and will be available Mondays through Fridays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Paso Robles Veterans Hall, 240 Scott St in Paso Robles, and Ramona Garden Community Center, 993 Ramona Ave., in Grover Beach.
Appointments will require people to walk into a facility (not drive through) and will take about 5 minutes.
The County has a lit of persons eligible to be tested:
• Healthcare workers and first responders;
• People 65-older or any age with chronic medical conditions;
• Residents or employees of congregate care living facilities;
• Persons in essential occupations that includes utilities, grocery, food supply, and public employees; and,
• Any persons exhibiting one or more symptoms of COVID-19 (primarily fever, persistent cough and shortness of breath).
Readers can register for these tests online at: emergencySLO.org/statetesting or register by phone at (888) 634-1123.
The tests are free of charge, and the State will provide the testing materials and staff to conduct the tests.
The tests are to identify people that currently infected with the virus that causes COVID-19. It is not an antibody test to determine whether they have ever been infected.
The County will be evaluating testing capability every week “with the goal to make testing available to all community members.”
