Gov. Gavin Newsom gave an update Saturday on testing for COVID-19 in California.
KCRA reported the governor announced a new partnership with UC Davis and UC San Diego to create several hubs that will increase COVID-19 testing capacity.
After it was broadly publicized that 59,500 tests of more than 126,700 in California still had no results, Newsom said the state focused on bringing that number down and that the backlog is now approximately 13,000 tests.
“We specifically have a new partnership with UC Davis and UC San Diego to create a minimum of five to seven hubs where we have high throughput where we will work with different vendors, not be prescriptive on the exact type of testing, but work with these hubs to significantly increase our testing capacity in our collaborative spirit within those hubs,” Newsom said during the press conference.
The hubs will be geographically based up and down California, he said.
Stanford Medicine has also developed blood-based tests for COVID-19, he said in the update.
“We’re pleased to announce Stanford Medicine, they’ve done a remarkable job to become the first in the state of California now to have the Serology tests, these are the blood-based tests that will be the first homegrown serum tests in the state of California,” Newsom said.
Newsom also announced there were more point-of-care tests available that would be able to give patients results within 15 minutes.
California residents looking to donate supplies can now use a new website launched by the state Saturday.
The website asks for organization and contact information, and residents can then give information on the resources they are providing.
As of Saturday, California reported 12,519 cases of the novel coronavirus and 281 deaths related to coronavirus complications.
The number of cases in the United States began to spike in late February and by late March, the number of cases in the country eclipsed 100,000 with more than 2,000 deaths.
In early March, Newsom ordered the state’s 40 million residents to stay at home, except for essential needs, to control the spread of the virus.
On Friday, President Donald Trump detailed new CDC recommendations that Americans wear face coverings to mitigate spread.
The coronavirus outbreak first started in Wuhan, China and has since spread across the globe, impacting Italy, Canada and the United States to name a few countries. The first case of COVID-19 in the United States was reported on January 14, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Residents are encouraged to follow CDC guidelines to keep themselves and their families safe, including:
- Wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
- Avoid touching eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands.
- Cover a cough or sneeze with your sleeve, or disposable tissue. Wash your hands afterward.
- Avoiding close contact with people who are sick.
- Stay away from work, school or other people if you become sick with respiratory symptoms like fever and cough.
- Follow guidance from public health officials.
*Original article from KCRA