Free COVID-19 test kits available at Stanislaus County locations. Here’s where
Getting tested is one way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as New Year’s parties are held this weekend.
Stanislaus County public health continues to distribute home test kits, providing them to the county libraries in Modesto, Ceres, Denair and Salida.
The state has been sending thousands of rapid test kits to counties in hopes of keeping the omicron variant from getting out of control in California. The antigen tests provide fairly reliable results in 15 to 30 minutes and are a quick way to find out if a person is screening positive for COVID.
Kamlesh Kaur, a county health services spokesperson, said the free test kits were also provided Monday to the cities of Modesto and Riverbank.
Deputy City Manager Caluha Barnes said Modesto received 360 test kits and will make 200 of them available to city residents. She said residents can pick up test kits at the human resources department on the second floor of Tenth Street Place, 1010 10th St., in downtown.
Human resources is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays but is closed this Friday for the holiday. Residents can check on whether test kits are available by calling human resources at 209-577-5402 during business hours. They can leave a voicemail after hours for a return call the next business day.
Barnes said people who want test kits will need to provide proof they live in Modesto. She said a driver’s license or rental agreement or utility bill will work. She said the test kits are limited to one per person and a maximum of five per household.
She said the city is keeping 160 of the test kits for its own uses. That includes providing them to city employees, to police officers to give to homeless people, to City Council members to give to their constituents, and to nonprofit agencies that serve disadvantaged community members.
While Modesto has a plan, people should understand these are the last few days of the year and other agencies have limited staffing this week. Don’t expect a seamless distribution process for the general public.
Staff at the Salida library said the test kits were available in the lobby Monday. A sign was posted instructing people who are sick not to come into the library.
Kaur said the doors were closed Monday when staff tried to deliver tests to the Modesto library, but they will try again Tuesday.
“We are hoping to have more locations this week,” Kaur said. “A lot of places that confirmed last week said they didn’t have staff or won’t be able to start distributing them until next week.”
The county is also distributing the test kits at homeless shelters and Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program sites, but those are for program clients.
Some counties in California are making sure the test kits are going to hard-to-reach residents or disadvantaged communities that have been stricken by COVID-19 outbreaks.
Large retailers including Amazon and Walmart have restricted sales of COVID-19 home tests and some stores have run out of supply as the omicron strain spreads rapidly.
“Some communities may not have access to testing, and the test kits run from $15 to $25 in the stores,” Kaur said. “For vulnerable community members who can’t purchase a test kit, this may help them to get tested.”
Stanislaus County received 22,680 test kits from the state last week and expected more in the final week of 2021. Kaur said the kits are the iHealth Rapid Antigen Test, which are 94.3% accurate and 98.1% accurate when the result is negative, according to the FDA.
Kaur said the home tests are a screening tool to make sure a person doesn’t have COVID-19 before attending a New Year’s Eve party, where an infected individual could easily spread the virus to other people.
The major health care providers and drugstores such as CVS and Rite Aid offer COVID-19 testing by appointment. Test results may be received in 24 to 48 hours. A variety of opportunities are available for those who can’t get tested through their regular health provider.
Testing sites remain open
COVID-19 testing sites in Stanislaus County continue to operate this week but with modified hours at certain locations.
The normal hours for the county’s PCR testing sites in Salida and Turlock are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. But the hours in Salida and Turlock are shortened to 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday for New Year’s Eve. The test sites are closed Jan. 1.
Testing in the Salida Library parking lot on Sisk Road, just south of Kiernan Avenue, is done Mondays through Fridays. Appointments are recommended.
The Rube Boesch Center, 275 N. Orange St., in Turlock has testing Sundays through Fridays. Another test site operates Sundays through Thursdays at the Ceres Unified School District office, 2491 Lawrence St., in Ceres, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
There’s also a drive-thru testing at the county Community Services Agency building, 251 E. Hackett Road, open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays.
In Turlock, another busy test location is at Stanislaus State University. The drive-thru service is closed New Year’s Eve to Sunday this week, the campus website says. Otherwise, it is open Mondays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Preregistration is strongly encouraged for the general public.
A mobile testing van makes the rounds and provides testing Tuesdays, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the McConnell Adult Education Center, 1348 Patchett Drive, in Newman. Other stops for the van are: Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Modesto Junior College East Campus, 435 College Ave.; Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m, Riverbank Community Center, 3600 Santa Fe St.; Fridays, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., East County Service Center, 1405 W. F St. Unit J, in Oakdale; and Mondays, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Hammon Senior Center, 1033 W. Palmas Ave., in Patterson.
Make an appointment for the testing van online or call 888-702-9042.
The Stanislaus County Health Services Agency has detailed information about COVID-19 testing at www.schsa.org.
Bee Staff Writer Kevin Valine contributed to this report.
This story was originally published December 28, 2021 at 8:10 AM.
