Volunteers Launch Database for COVID-19 Test Centers Across the U.S.

Taylor Soper, GeekWire
Taylor Soper is GeekWire's managing editor, responsible for coordinating the newsroom, planning coverage, and editing stories. A native of Portland, Ore., and graduate of the University of Washington, he was previously a GeekWire staff reporter, covering beats including startups and sports technology. Follow him @taylor_soper and email taylor@geekwire.com.
Volunteers Launch Database for COVID-19 Test Centers Across the U.S.

When Tarryn Marcus set out to create a comprehensive database of COVID-19 testing centers across the United States, her call for volunteers to help build it drew more than 120 responses. Today, with 35 active volunteers including developers, data scientists, content writers, social media producers, and marketers, she is running Get Tested COVID-19 like a tech startup.


Marcus grew up in Washington, attended the University of Washington and worked for a few startups, including most recently at the AR/VR company Pixvana as director of demand generation.

She started the testing database in March with her partner, Zach Boldyga, who runs a healthcare software company called Scalabull, a network that provides connections between clinical labs and doctors across the U.S. He works directly with most of the clinical labs that are providing testing for COVID-19.

Tarryn Marcus, left, and Zach Boldyga are leading a volunteer-driven effort to build a COVID-19 testing location database. Photos courtesy of Tarryn Marcus

"Our backgrounds were a pretty good launchpad for the effort," Marcus said. "We were able to get some early insight from the healthcare industry, build the initial website, and start to spread the word quickly."

Get Tested COVID-19 is intended to work as a crowdsourced effort to streamline access to testing information, even as reports show that testing has remained inadequate to date.

"We didn't hesitate to see whether other organizations would create this resource. We knew it had the potential to be helpful, it was within our wheelhouse, and we could get it up and running quickly, so we dove in," Marcus said.

The database now includes more than 2,100 testing centers, and users enter their zip code to find the nearest site, including hours and requirements. There is also a comprehensive guide to when and why people should get tested.

Right now, the site primarily tracks active case testing with the nasal swab, which is the primary testing method of the drive-thrus. Some walk-ins are blood testing and a small handful (10) are doing antibody, according to Marcus, who said they are working on a design to distinguish between test types.

A screen grab showing the information available for a testing location.Get Tested COVID-19 Image

Elsewhere when it comes to resources, Google is now showing information for testing centers on searches for terms related to COVID-19, The Verge reported. And Apple Maps intends to add that information as well, according to Business Insider.

Operating more smoothly like a company now, Get Tested COVID-19 has projects in motion for data science, UX improvements, marketing, software engineering, and communicating with stakeholders in the industry to explore additional ways to add value.

Some of volunteers work full time for larger tech companies, some are freelancers, and others have been recently laid off and are choosing to spend their time on COVID-19-related projects. Organizations like Fullstack Academy have reached out and offered the help of recent graduates.

"Everyone just seems to really want to help in whatever way they can," Marcus said, adding that some contributors are working full time on the effort, and that the time she's put in has been much more than initially anticipated.

The team has identified lots of issues and opportunities, and we're all rallying around putting a high-quality tool in front of anyone who needs it.

With volunteers from six different time zones across the world, establishing clear project workflows and tools for communication has proven critical. There's even a mission statement and guidelines.

Core tools driving the project from an organization standpoint are GitHub for development and Slack, Google Hangouts, and Zoom for communication. Web scrapers, machine learning and human-validated data are all employed. A small team is crunching data in Python to provide helpful insights to responders in the healthcare industry. And Get Tested is leveraging free Amazon Web Services credits to run the website and ensure it is ready to scale.

"The team has identified lots of issues and opportunities, and we're all rallying around putting a high-quality tool in front of anyone who needs it," Marcus said. "The reality is that we are not first responders or essential workers, and outside of giving money and staying indoors, this is a direct way we can hopefully provide value and contribute to the fight against COVID-19."

"I know for sure that we can build something amazing" she added. "Our biggest challenge is ensuring that the average American knows that this resource exists."

This story was originally published on GeekWire.

Subscribe to our newsletter to catch every headline.

Office Hours: Apex Founder Ian Cinnamon on Why LA Is the Aerospace Capital of the World

Spencer Rascoff

Spencer Rascoff serves as executive chairman of dot.LA. He is an entrepreneur and company leader who co-founded Zillow, Hotwire, dot.LA, Pacaso and Supernova, and who served as Zillow's CEO for a decade. During Spencer's time as CEO, Zillow won dozens of "best places to work" awards as it grew to over 4,500 employees, $3 billion in revenue, and $10 billion in market capitalization. Prior to Zillow, Spencer co-founded and was VP Corporate Development of Hotwire, which was sold to Expedia for $685 million in 2003. Through his startup studio and venture capital firm, 75 & Sunny, Spencer is an active angel investor in over 100 companies and is incubating several more.

​Ian Cinnamon
Ian Cinnamon

On this episode of Office Hours, Apex founder and CEO Ian Cinnamon discusses the importance of investing in space exploration and shares his thoughts on the evolving space ecosystem in Los Angeles.


Read moreShow less
https://twitter.com/spencerrascoff
https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencerrascoff/
admin@dot.la

This Week in ‘Raises’: Measurabl Snags $93M, Selva Ventures Grabs $34M

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.

Raises
Image by Joshua Letona

A local data management platform company lands fresh funding to help commercial real estate owners reduce carbon footprint, while one Los Angeles-based venture firm closes its second fund to accelerate the growth of emerging companies across health, wellness, beauty and personal care.

***

Read moreShow less

McKinsey & Company Launches InLA Accelerator To Help Underrepresented Founders Tackle Startup Challenges

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.

McKinsey & Company Launches InLA Accelerator To Help Underrepresented Founders Tackle Startup Challenges
InLA

In 2022, female founders saw a 28% decline in overall U.S. funding, while Black-led startups saw a 38% decline in total capital received. In an effort to increase funding for minority-led startups, global venture firm McKinsey & Company is launching InLA, an accelerator program for underrepresented founders.

“This effort is something that the firm has been really excited about for a long time,” Engagement Manager Elkhyn Rivas Rodriguez said. “There's obviously a meaningful and growing startup community out here and just from a diversity standpoint, LA is incredibly diverse and multi-ethnic and multicultural. So we think that there will be a really great pool of potential companies to partner with.”

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