SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) - San Francisco's newest COVID-19 testing site opened Tuesday morning at the Alemany Farmers Market.
The city test site was relocated from south of Market to the southeast part of the city because that's where most cases are.
"We know in this community that touches the Omi and Bay View Hunters Point, we know there is a need for more access and consistent testing," said SF Mayor London Breed.
The city, along with private providers are now averaging 5,800 tests a day.
But getting a test at one of these city test sites is proving difficult. Demand is high and typically takes two weeks.
On a more positive note, state officials say on average, test results are being turned around in less than two days.
Health experts say that can make all the difference in slowing the spread.
"All this stuff about testing is about isolating people who are infectious. That is the end game. So the faster we get to that, the less spread that goes on," said infectious disease expert Dr. George Rutherford.
While some health experts have encouraged people gathering with others or traveling over the holidays to get tested first, Dr. George Rutherford says that really can give you a false sense of security because there's a 3-day lag time between the time you get exposed and when your test turns positive.
"Your test becomes positive three days after exposure. You become infectious four days after exposure, so you catch someone in this window of the first three days, and they get test results back that are negative. Now entering day 4, and they are hyper infectious. They go to grandma's house with aunts and uncles, and you have a super spreader event. That's what we worry about."
That's why health experts continue to recommend not traveling or gathering with people outside your household over the holidays
Health experts say the kind of Christmas and New Years we will have will also be dependent on the behavior that is demonstrated over Thanksgiving.
Latest Stories:
from KRON4 https://ift.tt/3kHwTiq
No comments:
Post a Comment