Demand for COVID testing grows with surge

As health officials predicted, the number of positive COVID cases began to surge following holiday travel and gatherings, canceling thousands of flights and sending many in search of a COVID test. Health officers suggest making an appointment, as wait times at walk-in clinics locally can top several hours.

“We’ve been waiting here for two hours for one stupid test,” said one woman in line at Curative’s testing clinic in Boyes Hot Springs on Dec. 30.

“Due to high demand, walk-ups may not be available. Appointments are highly recommended,” it warns on the Curative website, which has hosted regular walk-in COVID testing clinics around Sonoma County since the early days of the pandemic. On Monday, there were no walk-in tests available at the Fiesta Plaza location in Boyes Hot Springs, only those with appointments were permitted.

As the Sonoma Valley Unified School District prepared for thousands of kids to return to campus on Jan. 4, there were no state or county requirements that students get tested before coming back to school. To assist families who needed a test, the school district organized a slew of testing and vaccine clinics this week. The district’s clinics are open to all students and staff, but they must register with the COLOR system (see a schedule in the sidebar).

“Our schools will continue to follow all established protocols including the use of face coverings indoors, increased indoor ventilation, and monitoring for symptoms among staff and students,” a notice to parents read. “It is highly important that students stay home and seek testing if they have symptoms of COVID, which can include fever or chills, a cough, shortness of breath or trouble breathing, fatigue, muscle aches, headache, loss of taste or smell, sore throat, runny nose, nausea or diarrhea.”

On Dec. 22, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced plans to “mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in our schools, the state is also increasing the availability of at-home COVID-19 tests across California so K-12 public school students can be tested as they return to school from winter break. In early December, the California Department of Public Health distributed approximately 2 million tests to schools for this purpose. CDPH will expand those efforts by providing one to two rapid tests for every student. CDPH will work with local education and health partners to distribute those test kits as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

According to the note to parents, Sonoma Valley Unified School District is “working directly with the Sonoma County Office of Education, in partnership with the California Department of Public Health and Office of Emergency Services, regarding the distribution of the free antigen test kits to school families which is expected to take place in early January.”

Last week, Sonoma County Health Officer Dr. Sundari Mase said holiday gatherings account for 40% of new COVID cases in the county with a known point of infection.

Contact editor/publisher Emily Charrier at emily.charrier@sonomanews.com.