If you want to get tested for COVID-19 but you don’t live close to a testing site, there’s a new option that could end up in your neighborhood: Riverside County has created a mobile testing team.
Guadalupe Ortega just got her test Thursday at Edgemont Community Hall in Moreno Valley. She hasn't been feeling well, and she said she was worried about her symptoms.
"Loss of taste, loss of smell and I had a fever two days ago," she said.
This mother of three young children says shes glad the testing site is only a few blocks from her home.
"This is extremely easy and very convenient cause there are no lines," she said.
Riverside County Public Health officials recently created a mobile testing team equipped with a trailer that contains all of the equipment needed.
"We understand there are a lot of areas in the county that are not able to go to our 16 sites that we have created in the past few months so we just want to get closer to them," said Riverside County spokesman Yaoska Machado.
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Machado said the team is dispatched to areas that are far from testing sites or have a lot of seniors who don't want to drive a long distance to get tested.
"Even if you got tested a few weeks ago or months ago, get tested again because you never know when you might be exposed to coronavirus," Machado said.
Machado said the number of COVID-19 cases in Riverside County is steadily rising every week. As of Thursday, there were 12,467 cases, and 408 deaths.
On Tuesday the County saw its highest one day increase in confirmed cases.
"This is something we expected with the reopening of the economy and the number of people getting tested," Machado said.
That's why he says testing is so important: the more testing, the more tracing, and hopefully a slower spread of COVID-19.
The mobile testing process is very similar to the drive-thru version. Nurses take your information, including health insurance. If you don't have health insurance, you won't be turned away because the test is free.
Nurses will then take a throat sample by going through your nose or mouth.
Depending on the number of people in line, the whole process only takes about five to ten minutes.
Ortega said the test gives her some much needed peace of mind, and she's hoping others will also get one too.
"Just do it. There's nothing to it. Get it over with," she said.
To find out more about the mobile testing site and where it’ll be heading next, call the Riverside County Media line at 951-955-5087.
