Contra Costa is first county in Bay Area to offer testing to anyone even if they don’t have symptoms
Contra Costa County will now offer an appointment for COVID-19 testing to any resident who believes they need one, regardless of insurance, ability to pay or whether they have symptoms or not.
Residents can make an appointment to visit one of eight sites throughout the county. The county is operating five drive-through testing sites while the state provides walk-up testing locations at three additional locations. Testing is available by appointment only. Call 1-844-421-0804 from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily for an appointment at any Contra Costa site.
The increased access to community testing will help Contra Costa County reach its goal for easing social restrictions in the current shelter-in-place order, which lasts through May. Previously, tests were only offered for patients with symptoms of illness.
“We need to test many more county residents to get a better sense of how widespread COVID-19 is in our community, and to help prevent its spread,” said Candace Andersen, chair of the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors. “Testing will also give us a better idea of when we can relax the current health orders.”
Between 300 and 400 patients are tested daily in the county. Contra Costa Health Services (CCHS) hopes to test about five times as many people.
All CCHS-run sites offer drive-through testing by appointment only. These sites are located in Antioch, Concord, Martinez, Pittsburg, San Pablo and San Ramon. Patients must visit these sites in their vehicles, as testing is done in the car.
Three new state-run sites also opened on Wednesday in Brentwood, Pinole and Walnut Creek, accepting walk-in patients by appointment only.
Appointments can be made by calling 1-844-421-0804. For appointments at county-run sites, a screener will take the information necessary to begin the process. Callers will then get a call back from a health professional during which an appointment will be scheduled.
There is no up-front cost for testing. County residents do not need medical insurance to get tested. However, if you have health insurance, your insurance will be billed.
While you don’t need symptoms to get tested, symptoms that may warrant a test include cough, shortness of breath, fever, chills, fatigue, muscle ache, sore throat, headache, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, recent loss of taste or smell, or confusion, particularly in older adults.
Visit coronavirus.cchealth.org/testing for details about community testing, including site locations.
3 comments
The testing in Brentwood is at Liberty High School which began May 6th. Why are they testing at a school where children and staff are still present? Why are there sick people contaminating the entire campus looking for the testing. Is your child picking up a cap and gown this week? Well they might be picking up something else because the district hasn’t been transparent.
Wait…you people in Brentwood are still expecting a formal graduation in June?
Seems like Brentwood is immune to Corona Virus so just relax dear.
Sadly, trying to make an appointment by calling 1-844-421-0804 proved to be impossible. I called promptly at 8:00 am on Friday, (5/8). Fifty minutes later, I am still on hold trying to schedule an appointment. CCHS needs to add more staff to work this phone line.
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