Mary Adams, chair of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, was at the helm of Tuesday’s board meeting remotely from her home, because she couldn’t get a rapid Covid-19 test after being exposed. It was just another recent example of how great the need is for tests in the face of a recent shortage of supplies in the county.
Adams shared that piece of personal information during the board’s discussion of how the county, in partnership with others, could increase the supply of tests for those who need them most. At the end of the discussion the board voted 5-0 to spend up to $1 million in the coming months to purchase rapid test kits for distribution to priority sites such as board and care homes, the jail and probation department, homeless shelters, clinics and other locations.
For Supervisor Wendy Root Askew, who made the motion to spend the money, getting more tests into the community is an important way to keep the community safe as the pandemic continues.
“I was hopeful the vaccinations would come through, everyone would get vaccinated, we could take our masks off and we wouldn’t have to worry about anything anymore, but what has become abundantly clear is that’s not exactly the situation anymore,” Root Askew said. “It’s not just about getting through the omicron surge but it's about how we’re planning and being intentional and being prepared for whatever comes next.”
The need for tests is great throughout the county, supervisors heard, certainly among workers and students who are mandated to be tested if exposed or infected, and need tests after five days to leave isolation or quarantine, but also among many others in the community.
Kim Stemler of the Covid-19 Collaborative, managed by the Community Foundation for Monterey County, said the VIDA Project, the community health organization the Collaborative works closely with, has tested over 9,000 people in the past month at 20 sites. The test positivity rate at these sites started at 22.7 percent and by last week soared to 34.5 percent.
The lack of test kits available prompted the Collaborative to put out a blanket call for any agency or organization with cash or access to reimbursement willing to combine purchasing power to buy large quantities. Stemler reported the call resulted in possible orders of over 106,800 tests from 20 organizations. Of those, 26 percent were for groups with medical waivers to administer rapid tests, 74 percent were for home tests. Those wanting to order included schools and early childhood education centers, affordable housing developments, homeless services and a faith community.
Meanwhile, more rapid tests are slowly becoming available through the local company Lightspeed Testing which recently had to shut down when it could not get rapid tests due to supply chain issues for the sites it operates in Monterey County. Founder and emergency room doctor Sameer Bakhda said the company was able to acquire 12,000 tests through the Monterey County Health Department, enough to reopen some sites. (For updated site information go to lightspeedtesting.net.)
“We’re reopening, but slowly until we get a solid cache of tests that we’re comfortable with,” Bakdha says. They want to keep a bigger supply of tests on hand incase of future “hiccups” in the supply chain. (Tests have a shelf life of about one year.)
VIDA continues to be a source for rapid tests. Information on locations for regular VIDA clinics—and all rapid and PCR testing in the county—is available at montereycountvaccines.com. VIDA Pop-up clinics are announced on its Facebook and Instagram pages the day of the clinics.
Monterey County requested from the California Department of Public Health more support for increased access to PCR testing and got it, Health Officer Edward Moreno told the board on Tuesday.
There are now three state-supported PCR sites with expanded hours: Sherwood Hall, 940 N. Main St, Salinas, 8am-8pm, seven days a week; the Salvation Army, 1492 Contra Costa St., Seaside, 8am-8pm, Monday-Saturday; Soledad Library, 401 Gabilan Dr., Soledad, 8am-8pm, Tuesday-Saturday.
Other sources of PCR tests can also be found at montereycountyvaccines.com.
PCR tests are more sensitive and take a couple of days or longer depending on demand. Earlier in January results were taking several days but in the last week they’ve reduced.