San Francisco Announces Efforts to Increase COVID-19 Testing

San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced Wednesday new efforts to prioritize COVID-19 testing in the county and address the surge in hospitalizations.

One of the initiatives to support these efforts consists of adding 400 new appointments per day at the CityTestSF site at the Embarcadero.

San Francisco has one of the highest rates of testing of any city in the country, but recently the increase in demand has made it harder for people to book appointments. This can't continue.

Here's what we're doing to make sure that people who need a test can get a test:
— London Breed (@LondonBreed) July 22, 2020

In addition, two new mobile testing sites with the ability to conduct up to 250 tests per day will open up in neighborhoods disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

"San Francisco has been exceeding our goals for daily COVID-19 testing, but like cities around the country we're now facing challenges due to increasing demand," Mayor London Breed said. "Since we issued the first Stay Home Order, there have been over 29 testing sites set up throughout the City with nearly 200,000 tests performed."

First, we've issued a Health Order requiring that private providers test patients with symptoms and close contacts of COVID-19 positive people.

The City is conducting 2/3 of all tests even though many people getting tested have insurance. Private providers must do their part.
— London Breed (@LondonBreed) July 22, 2020

In a statement, the Mayor's Office explained that consistent testing has helped achieve lowering the death rate compared to other counties.

Officials said San Francisco has conducted over 1,800 tests daily, and just this week it reached 3,212 daily tests.

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To improve testing, the county will issue a health order requiring private health care providers to expand testing services, reassess existing testing assets and priorities, and expand community testing locations.

The new changes will begin this week.