California has created a website where residents can enter a ZIP code, city or address and find nearby coronavirus testing sites, including many where they can get tested for free, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday.
The website, which can be reached from a link at covid19.ca.gov, includes a map with hundreds of sites across the state that provide diagnostic testing. At least 80 of the sites — run by two health companies with state contracts — will offer free testing. The companies are Verily, an arm of Google’s parent company Alphabet, and OptumServe, a Minnesota health services company. The map also includes hundreds of medical clinics and other testing sites that operate separately from the state, some of which may charge. The website lets users know whether each testing site requires a doctor’s referral, how to make an appointment and who can get tested there.
The website marks another step toward making testing more accessible for Californians. The state must be able to test 60,000 to 80,000 people a day in order to safely lift shelter-in-place restrictions, Newsom has said. This week, sites conducted 30,000 tests a day, the governor said.
Verily sites, which have been set up in San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda and other counties, are free. The state is paying Verily up to $16.6 million to operate the sites from March until June, according to agreements signed by the company and the California Office of Emergency Services. To get tested, people must have a Google email account and go through an online screening process.
OptumServe sites will bill residents’ health insurance for the testing, and the state will cover the cost for people without insurance. The California Department of Public Health has not said how much the tests will cost at those sites or revealed the terms of the contract, although it is a public document.
Testing at Verily and OptumServe sites will be prioritized for people with symptoms, health care workers and first responders, people in essential jobs, and some people without symptoms who are considered higher risk — such as residents or workers at nursing homes or other congregate living facilities after positive cases have been identified in their facility or before a resident is admitted to or readmitted to the facility. If testing supplies and capacity allow, lower-risk asymptomatic people also may be able to get tested.
Catherine Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: Cat_Ho
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May 07, 2020 at 08:24AM
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New state website lets Californians enter ZIP code, find a coronavirus test near them - San Francisco Chronicle
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