Need a COVID test? Here’s where to get one in San Luis Obispo County

The number of COVID-19 cases nationwide and in San Luis Obispo County continue to increase after holiday travel and gatherings are paired with the omicron variant to create a wintertime surge.

Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department said people should consider testing before gathering indoors with people from outside their household.

“If you are traveling, it’s a good idea to get tested before you go and then especially when you come back regardless of whether you’re vaccinated,” said Dr. Penny Borenstein, San Luis Obispo County health officer, in a video interview.

Viral COVID-19 testing options can be performed at a laboratory, at a testing site, or at-home, according to the CDC.

Residents in San Luis Obispo County have a variety of options when it comes to getting a COVID-19 test. They can purchase an over-the-counter rapid test, schedule an appointment for a test or vaccine at one of the public health clinics, or visit a physician’s office, urgent care center or other testing site.

To help increase testing capacity, the county public health department is hosting a free, pop-up testing event at Atascadero Lake Park from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday.

How to get a free test at a San Luis Obispo County Public Health clinic

Free coronavirus testing is available at clinics in San Luis Obispo, Grover Beach, Paso Robles and Morro Bay. To make an appointment, visit www.slocounty.ca.gov/COVID-19/COVID-19-Testing or call 888-634-1123 to register by phone.

Testing is available at the following four sites Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The testing sites will be closed on New Year’s Eve and on Jan. 17.

• San Luis Obispo: 801 Grand Ave.
• Grover Beach: 1336 Ramona Ave #A
• Morro Bay: 209 Surf St.
• Paso Robles: 800 Pine St.

The community test sites use nasal Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests to determine if someone has an active coronavirus infection, according to the Public Health Department. It can take up to two days for the laboratory to process the test results, but PCR tests are more sensitive, meaning they have fewer false negatives, and more specific, meaning fewer false positives, than basic antigen tests.

Where to purchase at-home testing kits in SLO County

The CDC says that at-home antigen self-tests are an important strategy for reducing the spread of COVID-19. A positive result means the test detected a coronavirus infection while a negative result means the test did not detect an infection and you may not have COVID-19, but it doesn’t rule it out, according to the CDC.

At-home test kits can be purchased at local pharmacies, CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens locations, among other places. Due to increased demand for at-home COVID-19 tests, supplies may be limited.

The Food and Drug Administration has a list of authorized manufacturers of at-home testing kits on its website at bit.ly/fdarapidtests.

Here are some of the places where at-home testing kits can be purchased and laboratory PCR tests can be scheduled:

• Arroyo Grande: CVS at 1435 East Grand Ave.
  
  
• Atascadero: CVS at 8320 El Camino Real; Rite Aid at 7025 El Camino Real; Walgreens at 8005 El Camino Real
• Los Osos: Rite-Aid at 1110 Los Osos Valley Road
• Morro Bay: Rite-Aid at 740 Quintana Road
  
  
• Nipomo: CVS at 810 West Tefft St.
  
  
• Paso Robles: CVS at 2305 Theater Drive and 187 Niblick Road; Rite-Aid at 1151 Creston Road and 2424 Spring St.
• Pismo Beach: CVS at 827 Oak Park Blvd.
  
  
• San Luis Obispo: CVS at 1300 Madonna Road, 717 Marsh St., 3960 Broad St. and inside Target at 11990 in San Luis Obispo; Rite-Aid at 1251 Johnson Ave. and 956 Foothill Blvd.
• Santa Maria: Walgreens at 707 North Broadway and 2399 South Broadway

Other testing locations throughout the county

You tested positive for COVID-19, now what?

The county Public Health Department is tracking the number of positive COVID-19 patients in the county, but as more people use at-home tests, the risk of gaps in disease surveillance increases.

San Luis Obispo County asks that people who test positive for COVID-19 report their positive test result to the county by visiting SLOPublicHealth.org/testing. The Public Health Department will send COVID-19 patients support, an isolation letter and a return to school/work letter once isolation is complete.

On Monday, the CDC shortened its isolation guidelines for people who test positive for COVID-19 from 10 days to five, if asymptomatic, according to a news release from the agency.

If leaving isolation after five of the 10 days, for the remaining five days, the asymptomatic COVID-19 patient must wear a mask to prevent the risk of transmitting the disease to other people, the release said.

Health experts have mixed feelings about the new CDC isolation guidelines, according to reporting by McClatchy.

Public Health Department says San Luis Obispo County needs to increase vaccination rates

In a recorded interview on Dec. 22, San Luis Obispo County Public Health Officer Dr. Penny Borenstein said that the way to educe the local burden of COVID-19 is by vaccinating more people.

“Nobody is talking about eradicating this virus, we’re not going to get rid of it entirely, but we can crush it. We can bring its amount of spread in our community way down if we could get our vaccination rates up,” Borenstein said.

Borenstein said in the video interview that vaccines are used to prevent children from contracting more than 20 life-threatening and debilitating diseases, from smallpox to measles.

“It is really upsetting and incredible that people are choosing to turn a blind eye to the elixir that we have in our hands to make this pandemic go away,” she said.

As of Dec. 27, about 65% of people living in San Luis Obispo County are fully vaccinated, about 71% are partially vaccinated, and about 28% are unvaccinated, according to county health data.

Borenstein also recommends that people who are eligible get boosted since preliminary evidence suggests that the third dose of vaccine is protective against the omicron variant.

To make an appointment for a COVID-19 vaccine or booster, visit MyTurn.ca.gov or call 833-422-4255. Public Health is also administering vaccines and boosters on a walk-in basis at clinics in San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles and Grover Beach. To find shots at pharmacies near you, visit Vaccines.gov.

For more information, visit www.slocounty.ca.gov/COVID-19/Vaccines.

This story was originally published December 28, 2021 at 12:50 PM.

Sara Kassabian

The Tribune

805-781-7849

Sara Kassabian is a former journalist for The Tribune.