The development call for loose coronavirus testing in San Francisco, possibly in preparation for planned Thanksgiving demonstrations, has underlined the city’s infrastructure and led the mayor and fitness director to warn about what they called a harmful strategy.
Complaints have recently emerged that the Embarcadero verification site, a component of the CityTestSF program, has been invaded by others to get checks before traveling before next week’s vacation.
The main complaint, according to several officials, is that unsafe San Francisco residents, staff and others who may have been exposed to the virus have difficulty getting tested due to the increase in the number of customers.
“Please don’t use the evidence to find out if you can or can’t,” Dr. Grant Colfax, director of the San Francisco Department of Public Health, said at a news convention to announce new restrictions in reaction to increased coronavirus cases. .
“Remember that other people who test negative can still harbor the virus” if it is in the early stages of infection, Colfax said. “The safest way to celebrate Thanksgiving is to stay home with your immediate home. “
The Embarcadero facility conducts an average of 1,700 tests a day at the expense of taxpayers, which is why some city officials are angry. Health officials say some of the other people who complained about delays have their own fitness insurance, but chose to move on to freedom. site because it’s more convenient.
Dr. Naveena Bobba, Deputy Director of Health in San Francisco, said there has been a transparent increase in demand, but it is unclear whether the outbreak is due to the fact that more people are experiencing COVID symptoms or because they need to be tested in preparation for the holidays.
“We need to make sure that our tests are used in such a way that other symptomatic people, who are in close contact (with other inflamed people) or who are essential personnel have access to the evidence, especially those in those categories that are uncertain or uncertain,” Bobba said.
Try before the Thanksgiving holiday “is not the right use of this resource,” he said. “We strongly propose that others do not use this resource to travel. “
Considerations have arisen amid a dramatic accumulation of coronavirus cases in San Francisco and the Bay Area.
The mayor of London Breed announced Monday that the city had changed two categories, from yellow to red, in California’s COVID protection assessment system, which will repair restrictions on social gatherings “with the sole purpose of seeking a better place. “”.
“We’re asking other people to sacrifice the board because if they don’t, we may pay the value over Christmas,” he said. “I am the one who gives the alarm. Array. . . We know it’s going to be a tough few months.
Breed and Colfax also suggested that San Franciscons not do so and avoid dinners in giant circles of relatives, a tip that the wave of evidence indicates that many others do not plan to follow.
The city’s COVID-19 public detection program has 27 cellular sites in the city in neighborhoods that have been most affected by the spread of the virus.
The city announced Tuesday that it would move its pop-up check south of Market Street to Alemany Farmer’s Market to fulfill the developing call in the hardest-hit area. About 500 more people per day will be checked in this place.
In total, about 5,800 more people are tested according to the day in San Francisco, more than in any other city that matches the number of inhabitants of the country, according to city officials.
Collaboration with Color and Carbon Health helped San Francisco become a national leader in response times, with 86% of verification effects returned in less than 24 hours and 99% in less than 48 hours. Contacts are sought for 85% of positive cases, Colfax said. .
The test formula is even more now that San Francisco “sees an explosion of new cases,” according to Colfax.
“These are general times, ” he said. Let’s be careful, diligent and safe, make sure that we and those we enjoy are here to get this vaccine so we can celebrate next year. “
Peter Fimrite is editor of the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: pfimrite@sfchronicle. com. Twitter: @pfimrite
Peter Fimrite is the senior scientific journalist for The Chronicle, covering environmental, atmospheric and ecosystem sciences. Its speed includes studies on earthquakes, marine biology, forest chimney science, nuclear tests, archaeology, wildlife and clinical exploration of land and sea. He also writes about the hashish industry, outdoor adventure, native American problems and Western culture. A former U. S. Forest Service chimney fighter, he has traveled extensively and covered a wide variety of career problems, adding the Beijing Olympics, Hurricane Katrina, illegal U. S. tourism to Cuba and a 40-day road trip. across the country to commemorate the history of car travel. In America.