COVID-19 test sites go mobile as demand rises amid spikes in cases – NBC 7 San Diego
With the rise of the delta variant, the need for testing has increased again, causing long lines at test sites in San Diego County. But now some test sites make it easier to find out if you are infected.
Companies like WeTestU in Mission Valley have deployed mobile testing labs not only for convenience, but also for safety.
Looking at the company’s mobile lab may surprise you, as it’s not a big recreational vehicle, it’s a four-door Toyota. Owner Ray Halluk opened the trunk and showed NBC 7 where the test equipment is stored.
âThis is where I keep the rapid tests, we keep them cold. These are thermos that keep them cold, âsays Halluk while holding an insulated bag.
Halluk says he’s kept busy on the road for the past six months as they offered the mobile option.
Door-to-door from Tijuana, Mexico, San Diego, Los Angeles, even Arizona, testing some 500 people so far.
One of them, TV personality Steve-O, of whom he took a picture.
âWe can do anything a lab can do in our car,â says Halluk.
San Diegan Keith Elliot knows this all too well.
Due to his constant interaction with the public due to work, he is a regular customer of Halluk’s tests.
So when he wasn’t feeling well earlier this year and had lost his sense of taste and smell, he decided to use the mobile testing option to be safe and limit exposure.
âI was so conscientious about you know and covid and not infecting other people and I didn’t feel good,â Elliott said.
The option allows Elliott and others to get same-day results and bypass private and county testing sites like Cal State San Marcos where the line was wrapped around the block on Wednesday.
A group of people some worry about could lead to exposure to Covid.
Although the county offered mobile testing sites, it was for priority populations.
The private company is now rolling out mobile options so everyone has the option to take a home test, but it will cost you dearly while county-operated sites offer free testing.