New free COVID-19 testing site to open in west Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A statewide push to increase COVID-19 testing has resulted in Fresno County preparing to open a third free site.

Fresno City College and the Sanger Community Center are the two sites in Fresno County which provide free COVID-19 testing services for the state.

Next week, Fresno County expects to open a third site.

"We will locate it in the west side of Fresno. I don't want to put the location out just yet," says Public Health DIrector Dave Pomaville.

The county is awaiting confirmation from Optum-Serve that it can also run this newest test site.

It would help in moving Fresno County towards reaching its goal of being able to test 1,500 people a day.

"We'll be able to test almost 140 patients every day. This is a high throughput site. The Optum-Serve website will give people appointments," says Dr. Rais Vohra with the health department.

Vohra identified west Fresno and southwest Fresno as underserved areas where testing needs to be increased.

Fresno County has seen a spike in positive cases though the infection rate remained under 8%.

"There's no one solution for everybody but we do know the more people that use masks, the more we can really slow down the spread of this germ from person to person so we're really hoping everyone internalizes that," says Dr. Vohra.

Dr. Vohra stressed the importance of wearing a mask when social distancing is not possible.

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