SF Announces More COVID Testing Capacity & Test Sites Mayor says San Francisco to add 1,400 testing slots at three COVID-19 testing sites.
Mayor London N. Breed today announced new strategies for COVID-19 testing prioritization and availability to address the surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in San Francisco. San Francisco’s public COVID-19 testing program will focus on people who have symptoms consistent with the virus, close contacts of confirmed cases, and people prioritized by the Department of Public Health such as those impacted by an outbreak.
In addition, San Francisco’s public COVID-19 testing program will continue to serve first responders, activated Disaster Service Workers, people who must leave their homes to work in San Francisco, people without health insurance, and communities disproportionately impacted by this global pandemic. People with private health insurance should continue to request tests from their health care providers.
To support this effort, the CityTestSF site at the Embarcadero will add 400 new appointments per day to ensure that first responders, including City Disaster Service Workers, have access to testing.
Additionally, two new mobile testing sites that can each conduct up to 250 tests per day will be added to the City’s current testing assets, and will be deployed in neighborhoods disproportionately affected by the pandemic. The placement of these new sites will be determined in consultation with community members.
A new long-term test site also will be added in the southeastern part of the City, starting with approximately 500 more tests per day for individuals most in need of testing.
Consistent prioritization of testing in congregate settings such as skilled nursing facilities has greatly contributed to San Francisco’s achievement of a fivefold lower death rate than those in comparable counties. San Francisco has consistently exceeded its target of conducting 1,800 tests daily, reaching an average of 3,212 daily tests this week.
In early July, a combination of increased testing demand paired with a delay in national laboratory results created a need to reevaluate existing testing resources in the City and determine how testing capacity could be improved, reprioritized and expanded.
