Sacramento County is temporarily halting five of its six community COVID-19 testing centers. The Oak Park location is the only one to remain open. Despite increasing COVID-19 testing, there is now a testing supply shortage nationwide, according to Sacramento County Public Health Director Dr. Peter Beilenson.”The good news is we’re testing about 16,000 people a week — up from maybe 300 or 400 a few months ago. So, it’s vastly better,” Beilenson said. “But we’ve now run into a new national supply chain issue, where there is not enough media transport liquid for the virus tests to be done. And so, our community-based sites are now on hold temporarily as we try to get more in. But, this is a national issue and it’s happening all over the country.”The shortage is of the testing “transport media,” which is the chemical solution. As a result, five of Sacramento County’s community clinics will temporarily come to a halt, Beilenson said. “We’ve a had a very, very effective process of doing community testing. We were basically full at every site. So, things had been working extremely well. UC Davis is our partner in this and we’ve been very pleased at how this rolled out,” Beilenson said. “The problem is we don’t have enough testing.”More than 4,600 COVID-19 tests were conducted at the six community clinics in Sacramento County since opening on May 15. Appointments were available to anyone regardless if they are symptomatic or had known exposure. “The vast majority of our cases—and we had several hundred cases over the last week or so—the vast, vast majority are people under 40 who are more likely to be asymptomatic. So, you want to test them,” Beilenson said.The COVID-19 community testing clinic in St. Paul’s Missionary Baptist Church, at 3996 14th Ave., will remain open. Unlike the other five, the Oak Park location is run by the county.The five community clinics on hold are:Natomas Unified School District at 1931 Arena Blvd.South Sacramento Christian Center at 7710 Stockton Blvd. Tetteh Pediatric Health at 7248 S. Land Park Drive #118La Familia’s Maple Neighborhood Center at 3301 37th Ave. Room 7Robertson Community Center at 3525 Norwood Ave.”The overall testing capacity across the state is being pushed right now,” a UC Davis Health spokesperson said in a statement to KCRA3. “There are a number of virus hotspots around the state and around the country, and there is a finite number of tests that can be done each day. In addition to the increased virus spread, some people are seeking to be tested even though they don’t have symptoms or have not been around someone who is sick. With the current levels of demand for testing, it is important to prioritize testing to help diagnose and confirm those people who actually have the virus, so they can isolate themselves early and avoid exposing other people.The county adds National Guard COVID-19 testing pop-ups will resume Tuesday and Thursday this week at Valley Hi-North Laguna Library until further notice. The county is now working to use Quest Diagnostics to resume the community clinics. The lab has a three- to five-day turnaround for COVID-19 test results, according to the laboratory’s website. UC Davis Health is quicker, Dr. Beilenson added.“While our average turnaround time continues to be one day for Priority 1 patients, it is now three to five days for all other populations,” Quest said in a statement on June 29.The testing shortage also explains why the Verily drive-thru testing site at CalExpo is showing a lack of appointment availability, Beilenson said. Turnaround times are also impacted, averaging anywhere from two days to a week for test results, according to Verily’s website. Hospitals in Sacramento County tell KCRA3 they are aware of the testing supply shortage, but are currently averaging a turnaround from same day to 48 hours for test results.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
Sacramento County is temporarily halting five of its six community COVID-19 testing centers. The Oak Park location is the only one to remain open.
Despite increasing COVID-19 testing, there is now a testing supply shortage nationwide, according to Sacramento County Public Health Director Dr. Peter Beilenson.
“The good news is we’re testing about 16,000 people a week — up from maybe 300 or 400 a few months ago. So, it’s vastly better,” Beilenson said. “But we’ve now run into a new national supply chain issue, where there is not enough media transport liquid for the virus tests to be done. And so, our community-based sites are now on hold temporarily as we try to get more in. But, this is a national issue and it’s happening all over the country.”
The shortage is of the testing “transport media,” which is the chemical solution. As a result, five of Sacramento County’s community clinics will temporarily come to a halt, Beilenson said.
“We’ve a had a very, very effective process of doing community testing. We were basically full at every site. So, things had been working extremely well. UC Davis is our partner in this and we’ve been very pleased at how this rolled out,” Beilenson said. “The problem is we don’t have enough testing.”
More than 4,600 COVID-19 tests were conducted at the six community clinics in Sacramento County since opening on May 15. Appointments were available to anyone regardless if they are symptomatic or had known exposure.
“The vast majority of our cases—and we had several hundred cases over the last week or so—the vast, vast majority are people under 40 who are more likely to be asymptomatic. So, you want to test them,” Beilenson said.
The COVID-19 community testing clinic in St. Paul’s Missionary Baptist Church, at 3996 14th Ave., will remain open. Unlike the other five, the Oak Park location is run by the county.
The five community clinics on hold are:
- Natomas Unified School District at 1931 Arena Blvd.
- South Sacramento Christian Center at 7710 Stockton Blvd.
- Tetteh Pediatric Health at 7248 S. Land Park Drive #118
- La Familia’s Maple Neighborhood Center at 3301 37th Ave. Room 7
- Robertson Community Center at 3525 Norwood Ave.
“The overall testing capacity across the state is being pushed right now,” a UC Davis Health spokesperson said in a statement to KCRA3. “There are a number of virus hotspots around the state and around the country, and there is a finite number of tests that can be done each day. In addition to the increased virus spread, some people are seeking to be tested even though they don’t have symptoms or have not been around someone who is sick. With the current levels of demand for testing, it is important to prioritize testing to help diagnose and confirm those people who actually have the virus, so they can isolate themselves early and avoid exposing other people.
The county adds National Guard COVID-19 testing pop-ups will resume Tuesday and Thursday this week at Valley Hi-North Laguna Library until further notice.
The county is now working to use Quest Diagnostics to resume the community clinics. The lab has a three- to five-day turnaround for COVID-19 test results, according to the laboratory’s website. UC Davis Health is quicker, Dr. Beilenson added.
“While our average turnaround time continues to be one day for Priority 1 patients, it is now three to five days for all other populations,” Quest said in a statement on June 29.
The testing shortage also explains why the Verily drive-thru testing site at CalExpo is showing a lack of appointment availability, Beilenson said. Turnaround times are also impacted, averaging anywhere from two days to a week for test results, according to Verily’s website.
Hospitals in Sacramento County tell KCRA3 they are aware of the testing supply shortage, but are currently averaging a turnaround from same day to 48 hours for test results.
