SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Across the nation, long lines for testing have people waiting for hours, as holiday gatherings and a surge in COVID-19 cases are sparking an increased demand for tests.
At Cal Expo in Sacramento, testing company Curative is seeing long lines.
Sacramento man David Monje came to get tested Wednesday morning and waited “an hour and 10 minutes,” he told ABC10.
Monje is a bar manager and said he’ll work from home until he gets a negative test after spending the holidays with family and feeling the onset of some cold-like symptoms.
“The wait was really long, but there's so many people that are having the same scares and stuff, too, so we all have to be safe to be a community,” Monje said.
Jason Cowen, the Curative regional team lead, said testing demand is the highest he's seen in at least a year, with waits as long as three hours.
“Over the last three or four days, we've done over 1,000 each day,” Cowen said, “and we've had up to 600 cars waiting in the parking lot this week."
The high demand is not just at Cal Expo. Curative said across all of its Sacramento-based sites, testing demand has increased 300% in just the last two weeks.
“This isn't just testing to be able to travel and be able to see family anymore,” Cowen said. “Now it's becoming testing in need because people are becoming infectious."
ABC10 health expert Dr. Payal Kohli said there are three main categories of people who should be getting tested now.
“One is somebody who's traveled, so a potential exposure. The second is someone who's actually been exposed to somebody who tested positive for COVID-19,” Kohli said, “And then the third is anyone who may have symptoms."
Kohli said she'd like to see more testing available in the coming months.
“You know, I have to say, it's a shame that almost two years into the pandemic we still have to wait in line to get tests, and that really is not where we need to be,” Kohli said. “So whether it means the government stepping up production, whether it means more distribution or easier access-- all of those things need to happen so that we can test frequently and test regularly without having a barrier to get testing."
Meanwhile, Cowen said Curative will keep testing as long as the demand is there, and he doesn’t see that dropping any time soon.
“There are people that need to get tested, and we want to hold true to that promise that we can test everyone,” he said.
Curative’s testing site at Cal Expo does take walk-ins, although Curative recommends people make an appointment. Testing there is free, and results will come back in a few days: 24-48 hours after the lab receives the sample.
Book a testing appointment at a Curative site by clicking here. Sacramento County has a list of free testing sites available here.
