County officials say they want 10,000 tests a day

Courtesy of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Los Angeles County Department of Public Health officials said Tuesday their hope is to reach a point where the county can issue 10,000 COVID-19 tests a day. However, they do not know when that will be.

In a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Dr. Clayton Kazan, medical director for the Los Angeles County Fire Department and the individual put in charge of the countywide testing measures, explained his work over the last few weeks to see where each county region was in terms of their testing capabilities.

Kazan said mobile testing centers in Los Angeles County are now processing 1,000 tests a day. He also discussed how more testing centers are becoming available countywide.

These sites can be viewed at covid19.lacounty.gov, Kazan said.

Kazan also stated that by the end of the week, first responders would have access to testing for their personnel.

“In keeping with our mission to ensure that first responders have access to testing, we’re working on a plan … that will allow police, fire and EMS departments from across the county to get access to test their personnel,” said Kazan. “We believe it’s a scalable model.”

In terms of the general public, Kazan then said that the goal was to get to 10,000 tests per day countywide.

“Right now we’re probably at, all in, 1,500 a day,” said Kazan. “But as we bring more centers up, if the average center that’s running more efficiently can do 250 tests a day, scaling them up around the county and getting as many as five or six more up even just this week … it’s a goal, and I think we can get there.”

When asked when the county would reach that 10,000-test goal, Kazan did not respond with a definitive timeline.

“I’m working as hard as I possibly can, I should have several sites up this week, and I’m just trying to knock them out one at a time,” said Kazan.

“I know that the limited access to testing has been a big source of frustration for our community as a whole,” said Kazan. “Please know that our teams at the city and the county are working diligently and collaboratively to open up access as quickly as possible.”

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