Curative Brings COVID-19 Testing Kiosks to Los Angeles
Rachel Uranga is dot.LA's Managing Editor, News. She is a former Mexico-based market correspondent at Reuters and has worked for several Southern California news outlets, including the Los Angeles Business Journal and the Los Angeles Daily News. She has covered everything from IPOs to immigration. Uranga is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism and California State University Northridge. A Los Angeles native, she lives with her husband, son and their felines.
Los Angeles is expected to roll out COVID-19 test kiosks later this month. A similar program in Berkeley may offer a hint of what it will look like.
Curative Inc. the company that administers COVID-19 tests, started a kiosk pilot program in Berkeley that opened last month.
Located in a park in Berkeley, the self-administered testing sites allow individuals to swab their own mouths and place samples in a supervised receptacle. The purple booth with the company's emblem reads "Welcome to your test spot." and "We're glad you are here."
Fred Turner, co-founder of Curative, tweeted out the photos of those kiosk less than a week before Mayor Eric Garcetti announced a similar program on Wednesday.
The kiosks in Los Angeles will process about 500 tests a day and are an alternative to the city's drive-thrus, which can be difficult for residents without cars to get to, Garcetti said.
Great to see our first @Curative mobile COVID-19 testing kiosk in action in @CityofBerkeley this week! We are hopin… https://t.co/yXBL0zOTuY— Fred Turner (@Fred Turner) 1596141719
"We think this will be a great way of getting tests to people that can't necessarily use one of the drive thrus and making testing more of a part of our daily lives as we continue to fight this pandemic," Turner said during a press conference with L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti.
The company is also rolling out a mobile unit that's being deployed to hot spots around Los Angeles. Garcetti said the city wants to be able to bring these to people in need.
"We are just getting to the point where it's getting a lot easier to get tested, but it's going to continue to be a pressing need to offer tests and for anybody who wants a test to be able to get tested," Turner said.
Curative has administered 1 million tests in Los Angeles and is averaging about 18,000 a day with an eye toward growing its capacity further.
Watch the full press announcement below:
COVID-19 Response Update from Mayor Garcetti, August 5, 2020
Join me live at a COVID-19 testing site for the latest on testing and more updates on our work to slow the spread of the virus.
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Rachel Uranga is dot.LA's Managing Editor, News. She is a former Mexico-based market correspondent at Reuters and has worked for several Southern California news outlets, including the Los Angeles Business Journal and the Los Angeles Daily News. She has covered everything from IPOs to immigration. Uranga is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism and California State University Northridge. A Los Angeles native, she lives with her husband, son and their felines.
Image Source: Archer