Pop-up coronavirus testing coming to Modesto, Ceres as nail salons are allowed to reopen
Tuesday brought the news that Stanislaus County remains in the most restrictive “purple” tier of California’s coronavirus reopening plan.
There was a breakthrough for nail salons, which are now allowed to open with indoor service while taking precautions, state health officials said.
Of course, county residents and businesses need to work to keep the numbers down. Toward that goal, the state in coordination with Stanislaus County’s Health Services Agency will offer COVID-19 pop-up testing in Modesto and Ceres.
It’s an opportunity for people with symptoms or recent exposure to COVID-19 to get tested and make sure they’re not a spreader of the disease. The agency said symptoms are not a criteria for people who want a test.
The times and locations are:
— Ceres High School, 2320 Central Avenue, from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.
— Stanislaus County Library, 1500 I St., Modesto, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday.
Kamlesh Kaur, a spokesperson for the county Health Services Agency, said the drive-through testing is free and insurance is not required. People don’t need to make an appointment.
“Currently, our testing criteria does not require you to have symptoms,” Kaur said.
The Ceres location was chosen because of the elevated number of coronavirus cases in that zip code area, Kaur said.
There is also a need for additional testing for Modesto neighborhoods other than the testing station in west Modesto.
The county expects about 130 people will participate in the testing each day at each location. County public health contact tracers will provide test results to individuals within two or three days, Kaur said.
Stanislaus County, with a positive test rate of 5.5 percent, has met one of the two criteria for moving into the state’s red tier, which would allow more relaxed restrictions on businesses and activities.
Chelsey Donohoo, a county epidemiologist, discussed the tier system and the county’s prospects for changing tiers on the Stanemergency Facebook page Tuesday. Stanislaus still needs to lower daily coronavirus cases to 7 per 100,000 or less. With the update Tuesday, the rate was 7.6 per 100,000 or about 43 cases per day.
The county has to meet both criteria for two consecutive weeks to leave the purple tier, making Oct. 6 the earliest possible date for changing tiers. The California Department of Public Health updates the tier system every Tuesday as it manages the statewide reopening process.
Counties able to move to another tier must remain there at least three weeks before moving again, Donohoo said.
On Tuesday, Alameda, Riverside, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo and Solano counties were redesignated from purple to red. Mariposa County is now in the least restrictive tier with minimal transmission.
The county Health Services Agency posted 47 new cases on its online dashboard Tuesday and two deaths, raising the local outbreak’s toll to 339 fatalities. Hospital rooms had 63 COVID-positive patients, down from 115 on Sept. 8.
