Date: May 6, 2020
Number: NR20-076
Contact: CDPHpress@cdph.ca.gov
SACRAMENTO ā State officials today launched an interactive website to help Californians find COVID-19 community testing sites near them. The new site allows Californians to quickly search for testing sites by current location, address, city or zip code and schedule an appointment. It also features an interactive map of testing sites across the state.
The testing locator website features community testing locations, including sites operated by Verily and OptumServe, which are open to Californians who meet current testing guidelines. Testing is free for all individuals, including those who are uninsured or undocumented. Individual testing results are confidential.
"As testing continues to ramp up at a rapid pace across the state, we want to make sure Californians know how to schedule an appointment, which can easily be done online for many locations," said Dr. Charity Dean, Assistant Director of the California Department of Public Health and co-chair of the California COVID-19 Testing Task Force. "With the launch of new community testing sites and significantly expanded testing criteria, more Californians will be tested - and in locations much closer to their homes."
One goal of the Testing Task Force is to ensure that more than 90 percent of Californians are within 60 minutes driving distance of COVID-19 testing sites.
"We are taking another crucial step toward helping to solve this unprecedented public health crisis ā ensuring Californians have access to testing and knowing where the nearest testing sites are located in their community," said Paul Markovich, President & CEO of Blue Shield of California and co-chair of the Testing Task Force. "Our public-private collaboration in tackling the pandemic continues to make a difference in delivering the results California deserves."
To date, Verily has launched eight testing locations statewide, and a total of 80 OptumServe sites will be launched by next week in 36 counties. The California COVID-19 Testing Task Force worked with county leaders statewide to identify appropriate testing sites with a focus on underserved communities in both rural and urban areas.
The testing locator application was designed for California by Esri, a mapping and location analytics company, in collaboration with GIS Corps, which is mapping community test sites.
"Using a map to help Californians locate and access testing sites near their current location is critical to ensuring those who need testing will receive it as quickly as possible, said Amy Leung, Technical Consultant with Esri. "Esri is proud to provide mapping and location intelligence for the State of Californiaās ongoing response to the pandemic and for the COVID-19 Testing Task Force."
For more information about testing and preventing the spread of COVID-19, visit covid19.ca.gov.
Additional Resources
California Testing Task Force: testing.covid19.ca.gov
Esri: esri.com/en-us/home
GIS Corps: giscorps.org