COVID Testing: Bay Area Health Officials Encourage Testing Following Holiday Gatherings
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) -- COVID-19 cases are expected to spike following the Thanksgiving holiday and, in response, public health officials are asking anyone who attended a large group gathering to get tested.
Despite warnings from public health officials to stay home millions of Californians still saw family and friends this week. Brian Delue was one of them, which is why he got tested for COVID-19 Friday.
"I think it's important to try to stay socially distanced as much as you can but, at some point, you do need to be with your family and community is an important thing," Delue said.
It's what Santa Clara County is asking people to do.
"We are asking people to stay at home and not gather as much as possible and if you did please go out and get tested," Roger Ross with Santa Clara County said.
In San Francisco they're hoping cellphones hold the key to contact tracing.
"The more people who answer the call or text, the better our chances of getting control of the spread of COVID-19 in San Francisco and speeding up the reopening of our city," said Dr. Susan Philip with San Francisco Department of Public Health.
After a positive test, you'll get a text asking you to fill in the blank for contact tracers. The city is now averaging 130 new cases of COVID-19 a day -- more than 900 a week
"Now we are in a large surge where infections are widespread across the city and reaching different populations and our numbers have been increasing sharply," Philip said.
It's a surge that started before the holiday season that's expected to continue through December.
"We saw the spike in the summer and it was hard to get back down. The quicker we get it under control the better off we will be in the long run," Ross said.
