Coronavirus

San Francisco To Open High Volume Testing Site In Response To Rise In Covid-19 Cases

The City’s COVID-19 testing site at 7th and Brannan streets will administer 500 tests per day starting August 18 to help control the spread of the virus

Published

3 years ago

August 25, 2021

Christy Price

COVID Testing/iStock

San Francisco Mayor London N. Breed and the San Francisco Department of Public Health (DPH) announced the opening of a high-volume testing site for COVID-19 at 7th and Brannan Streets in the South of Market neighborhood.

With COVID-19 cases rising to an average of 230 per day, the site will support the City’s demand for testing as an important tool to slow the spread of the virus and support a timely return to work and school for individuals exposed to COVID-19.

The site opens on August 18 with the capacity to administer 500 tests per day from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., seven days a week by appointment only. Drive-thru and walk-up services are available, and test results will be ready within 24 to 48 hours. The operation will start with two teams and grow to five by the end of August, allowing for as-needed, additional demand for testing.

“We know that the most important thing people can do to keep themselves and their friends and family safe is to get vaccinated, but with the Delta variant here and cases at a higher level than we’d like, testing remains an important part of our strategy to slow the spread of this virus,” said Breed. “If you feel sick, have symptoms, or have been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19, we want to make it easy and convenient for you to get tested.”

DPH is reserving appointment slots for disaster service workers who have been exposed to the virus as close contacts and for individuals involved in potential outbreaks of three or more individuals from separate households. The general public may make appointments but are strongly encouraged to first seek tests from their health care provider if they have one or purchase rapid home-testing kits that have become widely available.

DPH also launched the COVID Resource Center on August 16 to offer isolation and quarantine support for those who test positive for COVID-19 or are in close contact, including temporary housing, food delivery, cleaning supplies, and financial assistance for those who need it. The service can be reached at 628-217-6101.

Additionally, DPH plans to issue a health order requiring large healthcare facilities in the City to provide testing for patients, specifically those entities with acute care hospitals and associated clinics, offices, or urgent care centers, and medical practices with at least 100 licensed healthcare providers. The order is designed to ensure that private health providers contribute fully to the City’s COVID-19 testing infrastructure.

The testing site brings the City’s current capacity to approximately 5,000 tests per day provided by the San Francisco Health Network (SFHN) and other community and DPH-affiliated sites for individuals who are uninsured or who otherwise lack access to care. Of all analyzed tests in the City for San Francisco residents, DPH is currently administering 29%, though the SFHN is the primary provider for less than 10% of the population in San Francisco. The City’s testing volume between CityTest, community sites and SFHN sites is 5 to 10 times what each of the private health systems is doing daily.

The Delta variant has brought new challenges to the City as it battles back the virus while keeping businesses and schools safely open.

“We are responding to this fourth surge in COVID-19 by doing what we know works best – and that is vaccinations, indoor masking, and expanding our testing capacity once again with this new high-volume testing site,” said Director of Health Dr. Grant Colfax. “We are opening the new SOMA testing site to meet our highest needs, and to serve those in the City who have been most impacted by COVID and who have the least access to care. We request that our City residents with insurance first seek out tests with their health care providers or through readily-available home test kits. We also ask our health care system to do their part for their patients, as COVID will be with us in some form for the foreseeable future.”

The SoMa testing site is a partnership between DPH and Color Health, which is providing testing services, and Carbon Health, which is providing staffing.

San Francisco follows the recently updated U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance which recommends people who are fully vaccinated get tested three to five days after a potential exposure even if they have no symptoms.

People who are not fully vaccinated should be tested immediately after being identified, and, if negative, be tested again in 5 to 7 days after their last exposure or immediately if symptoms develop during quarantine.

To make an appointment at the SoMa testing site, or to find other testing sites that are free of charge, no insurance required, visit sf.gov/gettested. Individuals with a health care provider should schedule a test with them.

Individuals testing positive for COVID-19 or who are identified as a close contact to someone who has tested positive, will receive a link to the CalConnect Virtual Assistant (called the “VA”); we request that all San Franciscans who receive this link complete it. For information on what to do after a positive COVID test or exposure to the virus, go to: sfdph.org/dph/COVID-19/Isolation-and-Quarantine.asp.

This report comes from Mayor London Breed’s Office of Communication.

The San Francisco Post’s coverage of local news in San Francisco County is supported by the Ethnic Media Sustainability Initiative, a program created by California Black Media and Ethnic Media Services to support community newspapers across California.

Christy Price

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Bay Area

Authorities Warn: There’s a COVID Surge in California

According to data estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the coronavirus in California’s wastewater has spiked for eight consecutive weeks. Hospitalizations and emergency room visits have also increased since the rise of the new subvariants. Over the last month, Los Angeles County experienced an average of 389 hospital patients per day that tested positive for the coronavirus. The FLiRT subvariants such as KP.3.1.1. Made up over 2% of coronavirus samples nationwide, an increase of more than 7% last month.

Published

3 months ago

August 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Photo provided by California Black Media.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

California is experiencing a COVID-19 surge this summer, experts warn, as numbers of infections increased for the third month this year.

State public health authorities attribute the summer COVID surge to more infectious subvariants that have emerged as the coronavirus evolves.

Dr. Elizabeth Hudson, regional chief of infectious disease at Kaiser Permanente Southern California, stated that subvariants of COVID-19 called FLiRT increased in recent months, particularly one named KP.3.1.1 that has become the most common strain in the country.

Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious diseases expert at UC San Francisco, said that the subvariant KP.3.1.1 seems most adept at transmission.

“The subvariant is the one that people think will continue to take over, not only in the United States, but … around the world,” Chin-Hong said.

The majority of the people who tested positive for COVID-19 complained of a sore throat and a heavy cough. Risk factors that can increase the illness include age, underlying health issues, and vaccine dosage.

Health experts stated that the demand for the COVID-19 vaccine has increased in Northern California. However, people are having a hard time getting the vaccine due to the increasing number of cases.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

California Black Media

Gov. Newsom and Gov. DeSantis Go Head-to-Head in Nationally Televised Debate

Conservative Fox News personality Sean Hannity moderated the duel, during which the TV pundit, more than once, injected his opinion, and appeared to be providing subtle assists to DeSantis. As the debate progressed, it was clear that opinions about each topic discussed was representative of the philosophical and political chasm that divides liberal and conservative America, and a preview of campaign mudslinging that is bound to intensify as the 2024 presidential campaign ensues.

Published

12 months ago

December 10, 2023

Oakland Post

The debate between Gov. Gavin Newsom and Gov. Ron DeSantis was moderated by Fox News personality Sean Hannity. California Black Media image.

By California Black Media

In an intense, 95-minute-plus televised faceoff between California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Nov. 30, the men traded jabs and putdowns, defended their respective gubernatorial records, disagreed sharply on how to solve the country’s most pressing problems, and expressed clashing views on the performance of the Biden-Harris administration.

Conservative Fox News personality Sean Hannity moderated the duel, during which the TV pundit, more than once, injected his opinion, and appeared to be providing subtle assists to DeSantis.

As the debate progressed, it was clear that opinions about each topic discussed was representative of the philosophical and political chasm that divides liberal and conservative America, and a preview of campaign mudslinging that is bound to intensify as the 2024 presidential campaign ensues.

“I’ll tell you why I’m here,” Newsom said. “I’m here to tell the truth about the Biden-Harris record and also compare and contrast Ron DeSantis’ record and the Republican Party’s record” with that of California.

DeSantis blasted Newsom’s management of the COVID-19 crisis and criticized Newsom for prevalent crime, homelessness and deteriorating social conditions in California cities.

“You have the freedom to defecate in public in California,” DeSantis said. “You have the freedom to pitch a tent on Sunset Boulevard. You have the freedom to create a homeless encampment under a freeway and even light it on fire. They’re not the freedoms our founding fathers envisioned.”

Newsom took a jab at DeSantis’ presidential candidacy, predicting that the Florida Governor would be endorsing GOP frontrunner Donald Trump soon.

“There’s one thing we have in common,” Newsom said. “Neither of us will be the nominee for our party in 2024.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

BayCityNews

FDA Updates Approval of Pfizer Booster Vaccine for Children Under 5

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration updated its approval Tuesday of the Pfizer-BioNTech booster vaccine, making it available to some children under age 5. Before this update, children under 5 were not eligible for COVID-19 booster shots. Instead, they received three doses of the regular vaccine.

Published

2 years ago

March 22, 2023

Oakland Post

As of December 2022, children age 4 and younger who have not been vaccinated receive the omicron variant-specific booster vaccine as the third dose in their primary vaccine series, following two doses of the original Pfizer vaccine.

By Eli Walsh
Bay City News

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration updated its approval Tuesday of the Pfizer-BioNTech booster vaccine, making it available to some children under age 5.

Before this update, children under 5 were not eligible for COVID-19 booster shots. Instead, they received three doses of the regular vaccine.

However, children in that age range who completed their initial vaccination series before December 2022 only received three doses of the original Pfizer vaccine, and are less protected against more infectious variants of the virus as a result.

FDA officials updated the vaccine’s emergency use authorization Tuesday to allow those children who only received the original Pfizer COVID vaccine to receive one dose of the bivalent booster if it has been at least two months since they completed their initial series.

Other children under age 5 are not eligible for the booster, although everyone age 5 and up is eligible for a booster.

“Currently available data show that vaccination remains the best defense against severe disease, hospitalization and death caused by COVID-19 across all age groups, and we encourage all eligible individuals to make sure that their vaccinations are up to date with a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine,” said Dr. Peter Marks, the director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

Clinical data has found that both the original Pfizer vaccine and the booster vaccine that targets the omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 are safe for everyone aged 6 months and up and effective at preventing the worst outcomes of COVID infection, including serious illness and death.

COVID vaccines are available at primary care providers, retail pharmacies and some facilities operated by local health departments.

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