Two new city-run COVID-19 testing sites will open up in Long Beach starting Monday, and no appointments will be necessary, officials announced Friday afternoon.
Due to a recent demand for more accessible testing, city officials have moved to open up non-appointment clinics at the Long Beach Civic Center and Long Beach City College’s Pacific Coast Campus.
The new sites come on the heels of a surge in positive cases, a spike in COVID-19 testing demands and a new omicron subvariant that has been confirmed in Long Beach.
Mayor Robert Garcia said in a statement yesterday that the new Civic Center testing site would provide more testing opportunities for residents and businesses in Downtown Long Beach.
“By expanding testing opportunities while continuing to offer vaccines nearly every day, we can defeat the Omicron surge,” he said.
The schedule for the new walk-up only clinics will be as follows:
- Civic Center: at 411 W. Ocean Blvd.
- Mondays through Fridays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Long Beach City College, Pacific Coast Campus: Parking Lot 1 on the corner of Orange Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway.
- Tuesdays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to noon
Cal State Long Beach will also be open for testing on the following days:
- Monday, Jan. 31, Feb. 7, Feb. 14 and Feb. 28 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Wednesday, Feb. 2, Feb. 9, Feb. 16 and Feb. 23 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Cases have declined compared to earlier this month, with the rate of positive tests dropping from 29.6% to 24.3%, city officials said. Still, health professionals continue to urge eligible people to get their vaccines and be vigilant about testing.
“The Health Department has conducted about 850,000 COVID-19 tests since the start of the pandemic and nearly 10,000 in one day,” said Health Department Director Kelly Colopy. “We remain committed to making sure everyone who needs a test in Long Beach can get one.”
On Friday, Long Beach health officials reported 13 new deaths related to COVID-19 Friday, the highest single-day figure since March 2, 2021.
The deaths reported Friday were the result of a delay in updated numbers due to overwhelmed and understaffed hospitals affected by the surge, the city said.
Officials say, however, that this was not unprecedented. New infections began to rise late last year when the omicron variant emerged in Long Beach. In Long Beach, about 98% of sequenced cases have been identified as omicron.
From Sept. 1, 2021, through Jan. 24, 2022, 94% of hospitalizations and 97% of COVID-19 related deaths were among those who were unvaccinated or not up-to-date with their COVID-19 vaccinations, health officials said.
“The more people who are vaccinated, the lower the chance that any variant can get a foothold in our community,” officials said in a statement Friday.
For more information on vaccine clinic schedules and appointments, visit longbeach.gov/vaxLB.