Long Beach’s massive efforts to provide thousands of COVID-19 tests each day is straining some city services as workers from various departments including lifeguards, clerks and janitors man testing sites, officials said Wednesday.

The city averages about 5,000 combination flu and COVID-19 tests daily at its free, drive-up sites. In all, the Long Beach Health Department has conducted more than 488,000 total tests since the start of the pandemic.

While Long Beach is proud of its mass testing program, Mayor Robert Garcia said, residents might not realize that many of the workers come other city departments, which in turn means a shortage in staffing.

“A lot of people have been asking why some services are slower,” Garcia said in a news conference Wednesday. “You are not seeing the same level of services we’ve seen in the past because we’ve had to redirect so many resources to COVID-19. We’ve had to essentially recreate a massive medical testing operation.”

In addition to the staff shuffling, large numbers of employees are taking sick leave or quarantining due to COVID, which also impacts services.

The mayor noted that trash pickup has been slower because homes are producing about 12-15% more trash as more people are staying home. Paramedic response times have been slower as the number of COVID hospitalizations surges, and clean teams that pick up trash around the city have also been impacted.

“People are stretched thin, but we’re still delivering basic core services,” Garcia said.

On a positive note, the mayor said, the city is making headway in its vaccination program and expects to complete its first phase by Jan. 10. The first phase includes essential health care workers, residents and staff at nursing facilities and emergency medical technicians and paramedics.

The second phase, which includes essential workers in public health, and those in dentist and doctors offices and other essential workers, is expected to begin on Jan. 11 and will take several weeks, Garcia said. The vaccine likely won’t be available for the general public until summer.

Long Beach has so far received about 22,000 vaccine doses, the mayor added. 

On the day before New Year’s Eve, health officials made a final effort to warn people against gathering to prevent a further surge in cases.

Long Beach on Wednesday reported 504 people hospitalized for COVID, up from 492 the previous day. The city also reported 11 new deaths, for a total of 391 fatalities.

Officials in a Los Angeles County on Wednesday said roughly one in every five residents who are getting tested are testing positive.

The county on Wednesday also reached the grim milestone of more than 10,000 deaths. On average, about 150 people are dying from COVID in the county each day, which is nearly equivalent to the average number of deaths (170) from any other cause.

Los Angeles County Department of Health Services Director Christina Ghaly said the spike is deaths is causing “a backup of dead bodies at a variety of facilities and hospitals across the county.”