Curative Returns to Dodger Stadium as COVID-19 Cases in California Rise

Keerthi Vedantam

Keerthi Vedantam is a bioscience reporter at dot.LA. She cut her teeth covering everything from cloud computing to 5G in San Francisco and Seattle. Before she covered tech, Keerthi reported on tribal lands and congressional policy in Washington, D.C. Connect with her on Twitter, Clubhouse (@keerthivedantam) or Signal at 408-470-0776.

Curative Returns to Dodger Stadium as COVID-19 Cases in California Rise
Photo by Sung Shin on Unsplash

A few days after Los Angeles put some of the strictest COVID measures in the country in place, the testing site at Dodger Stadium will reopen. The startup Curative will operate the site, once the nation's largest, as demand for testing grows.


The drive-thru testing site is located at the Downtown Gate E entrance and operates seven days a week, administering free, shallow nasal PCR tests that are more reliable than rapid tests. Curative said results arrive in a matter of one-to-two days and the company will bill insurance on the residents' behalf.

Public health officials have been bracing for an uptick on COVID-19 cases over the winter. As the weather gets colder and the holidays bring about more travel, there is a higher risk of catching and spreading the coronavirus.

California is already experiencing an influx of COVID-19 cases — as of Nov. 6, the state saw a 2.4% positivity rate, compared to a 2.1% positivity rate this time last month.

"We have seen this before. As we approach the holidays, there's historically been a spike in positivity," said Haley Albert, Curative's director of growth in California. "And though it's very different this year because most people are vaccinated, it doesn't mean that people can still get and spread COVID."

Curative was part of a partnership with Los Angeles when the city ran what was once the largest COVID-19 testing site in the country at Dodger Stadium, back when it, like many businesses, shut down during the pandemic. Curative offered to test saliva samples at the site, which later morphed into a vaccination center in January 2021.

Earlier this year, the startup, run by its founder Fred Turner, came under scrutiny after the Food and Drug Administration found its oral swab test sometimes produced inaccurate results.

The company switched to a nasal swab test in mid-June. The Dodger Stadium operations shut down entirely when baseball games resumed.

https://twitter.com/KeerthiVedantam
keerthi@dot.la

Subscribe to our newsletter to catch every headline.

Why a Downturn in Esports Investments Isn’t Something To Fear

Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

Why a Downturn in Esports Investments Isn’t Something To Fear
Samson Amore

Last year, global venture capital investment in esports dropped by more than 40%. Investors have been rapidly selling off teams and franchises, and the industry has witnessed a consistent decline in ad spend. This has prompted many critics to coin the term “esports winter,” referring to a fall-off in the industry, an indication that VCs believe their investments didn’t achieve success as expected.

Read moreShow less
https://twitter.com/samsonamore
samsonamore@dot.la
LA Tech Week Day 4: Social Roundup
Evan Xie

L.A. Tech Week has brought venture capitalists, founders and entrepreneurs from around the world to the California coast. With so many tech nerds in one place, it's easy to laugh, joke and reminisce about the future of tech in SoCal.

Here's what people are saying about day four of L.A. Tech Week on social:

Read moreShow less

The Impact of Authentic Storytelling. LA Latino/a Founders and Funders Tell All

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

The Impact of Authentic Storytelling. LA Latino/a Founders and Funders Tell All
Decerry Donato

As one of the most diverse cities in the world, Los Angeles is home to almost 5 million people who identify as Hispanic or Latino/a. Yet, many feel they still lack representation in the city’s tech space.

“I can safely say that last year’s LA tech week hosted all of the events on the west side, and very few were focused on telling Latino and Latina entrepreneurial stories,” said Valeria Martinez, investor at VamosVentures. “We wanted to change that this year.”

Read moreShow less
RELATEDEDITOR'S PICKS
LA TECH JOBS
interchangeLA
Trending