San Benito County did a soft launch Tuesday morning of its expanded COVID-19 testing at the Veterans Memorial Building.
Health & Human Services Deputy Director Lynn Mello updated county supervisors Tuesday about the program with a goal of testing 5,000 to 8,000 people in the next two months. That is far more than the 1,000 or so residents tested so far in the county with 52 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Local leaders announced a week ago San Benito County has been chosen by the state to provide priority COVID-19 testing. The testing is part of a state contract with Optum Serve and would occur at the Veterans Memorial Building in Hollister. The county is exploring possible sites in San Juan Bautista and Aromas as well.
Mello confirmed it started Tuesday morning and will run 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays by appointment with no walk-ins allowed.
“It began this morning,” Mello said. “We are doing a soft rollout and a pilot this week. We are working with our first responders and county EMS director to be able to get our first responders through the testing first.”
Mello said there were some initial “glitches” and that officials expected “hiccups” due to the magnitude of the program. She reiterated it’s not a county-run program, but the local public health department is providing guidance, outreach and technical assistance.
Mello said the county is establishing a system for registration online or by phone, with vulnerable populations getting priority. County staff will be going out into the field for outreach to vulnerable populations and plans to issue a press release by the end of the week with more instructions for the public.
The county wants to make sure “all systems arein order” before the contractor opens up testing to the general public.
