A state-sponsored, free COVID-19 testing site will start operating at Seaside High School next week after moving from Greenfield due to a lack of use.
Provided by the county in partnership with the California Department of Public Health and OptumServe, the test site will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday through Saturday at the high school, 220 Noche Buena St. in Seaside.
Supervisor Jane Parker noted the impending arrival of the new testing site on the Monterey Peninsula during Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting.
And Monterey Peninsula Unified School District Superintendent PK Diffenbaugh said the local testing site will be most welcome.
“We are proud to partner with the county to bring a testing site to the Peninsula,” Diffenbaugh said. “We know that our families and the entire community will benefit from having an accessible COVID-19 testing site at Seaside High.”
Testing is open to everyone regardless of whether they have COVID-19 symptoms and is recommended for health care workers, first responders, caretakers to high-risk people, those considered close contacts to people with the virus and anyone concerned they may have been exposed.
The testing site will accept both walk-ins and appointments, which can be made by visiting lhi.care/covidtesting or by calling (888) 634-1123.
People are asked to bring legal identification, if they have it, to help ensure contact information is accurate for results reporting.
A county health notice indicated the test site was being moved from the Greenfield county library to Seaside because the current location “has not been well-utilized in the last couple of months,” and that the state supports moving the site to another area of the county with “limited access to testing services.”
County Health Department Director Elsa Jimenez thanked the Greenfield community and the county library system for hosting the testing site and noted that testing is still available at a number of other sites in South County including Clinica de Salud clinics in Greenfield, Gonzales, Soledad and King City, the Mee Memorial clinics in Greenfield and King City, and the Soledad Medical Clinic in Soledad.
The last day of testing at the Greenfield library is set for 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday.
More information is available at mtyhd.org/covidtesting.
Also Tuesday, county Office of Emergency Services Director Gerry Malais told the county board that nearly 1,100 customers from Carmel Highlands to Big Sur could be without power for about two days due to a potential PG&E public safety power shutoff if high, gusty winds hit the area during dry conditions as expected, elevating the risk of wildfire.
Malais said PG&E had issued the required 48-hour notice ahead of a potential power shutoff, which he noted indicates a “probable shutdown” but is not guaranteed.
If PG&E goes ahead with the power shutdown, Malais said the utility would notify the county, which would in turn issue its own notification.
Malais said the shutdown would be expected to begin Wednesday between 8 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. until some time Friday evening, and affect customers from just south of Peter Pan Road in the Carmel Highlands to Dolan Road in Big Sur. A county Office of Emergency Services website notice said the shutoff would be expected to last until 10 p.m. Friday.
Meanwhile, Malais noted the Dolan Fire in the Big Sur area remains at 98% containment, and a county report indicated the fire’s burn area was still at 124,924 acres as of Tuesday morning. Malais said fire response was being “downgraded” and crews were working on interior mop-up, while FEMA and Cal OES begin visiting burned areas to conduct assessments.
