Contra Costa County health officials lifted a trio of health orders this week that expanded the availability of COVID-19 testing in the early months of the pandemic.
The orders authorized COVID testing at locations operated by OptumServe, directed laboratories to report COVID test results to local and state public health agencies and required health care facilities to provide COVID testing.
County Health Officer Dr. Ori Tzvieli rescinded the three orders, arguing that “organizational and regulatory changes at the state and federal level” have made them unnecessary in the current state of the pandemic.
OptumServe is now conducting COVID testing under state authority rather than local authority, according to a spokesperson for Contra Costa Health Services, while testing laboratories are now required by the state to properly report their testing data.
The testing requirement for large health care providers like Kaiser Permanente was determined to be unnecessary due to the widespread availability of at-home tests and federal requirements that health care providers offer a certain number of COVID tests for free each month.
The three health orders were originally issued between May and September 2020.
CCHS also announced this week that it will close its COVID testing sites in Richmond and San Ramon, citing a significant drop in demand at both locations over the summer.
The two sites will close for good after Friday. Tests will be conducted until 3:30 p.m.
“Although the county testing sites will sunset, people can also still get tested through their regular healthcare providers, state testing sites, pharmacies or by purchasing over-the-counter home test kits,” CCHS said in a statement.
The county provides free at-home COVID tests at all 26 of its library branches and at its three COVID vaccination sites in Richmond, Concord and Antioch.
Information about how to get tested for COVID, get vaccinated or treat an infection can be found at https://www.coronavirus.cchealth.org.
As of Thursday, the county has reported 269,727 COVID cases since the pandemic began.
6 comments
Of Course!!!
Totally Political. Everything to do with the upcoming election. Even Italy has had enough.
Not sure what Canada is waiting for.
Now John Muir needs to stop their insanity.
The ER can be jam-packed with people with who knows what kind of diseases, sitting there about a foot apart for hours before being called. No one wipes the chairs down (or anything else). But they give you a nice sanitized pen to sign with. (Sometimes you don’t even get that at their place on Treat).
It’s a big farce. I’d love to know who’s making money on masks that probably do little anyway.
The Chinese are making the money – the masks are manufactured in China.
And, a lot of our necessary meds are solely manufactured in China — life saving medicines. Just like Putin sabotaging the gas lines to Europe, when you count on an enemy for anything, they have you by the short hairs.
Mike,
Ask yourself why Putin would spend billions on that gas line and then blow it up.
Then ask yourself about natural gas in Ukraine.
Then ask yourself why the CIA warned Germany 2 weeks ago this might happen.
Then ask yourself why the same CIA people who lied about Trump and Russia are saying Putin did it.
I never followed the CCC health restrictions that much anyhow. So, no big deal.
These restrictions will probably be reinstated right after the elections.
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