COVID-19 testing on the rise as cases increase in Sonoma County

As a result of an increase in Sonoma County COVID-19 cases, the county has experienced an uptick in the number of people seeking to be tested over the past two weeks.

Testing volume countywide has gone from 1,400 tests per day to 1,600 tests per day over the past two weeks, according to Matt Brown, a Sonoma County communications specialist.

The COVID-19 case rate in Sonoma County is now at 14 cases per day per 100,000 people.

“It used to be six or seven (cases per day per 100,000), and we’ve seen it starting to go back up,” Brown said. “It’s not anywhere near what we had in January with the omicron variant when it was 250.”

Cars were waiting around the block Tuesday at the drive-through COVID-19 testing site at Kaiser’s Petaluma Medical Offices.

“We have seen an increase recently in testing demand and as a result members may experience brief waits at our Petaluma Medical Offices,” Karl Sonkin, senior media relations representative for Kaiser Permanente Northern California, said Wednesday in an emailed statement. “Testing continues to be an important tool in this pandemic, alongside COVID-19 vaccinations and masking.”

Sutter and Providence-Memorial hospitals don’t have specific testing sites at their medical offices in the county. Testing at those facilities is conducted more on an individual basis, when people show symptoms of the virus.

“Our COVID numbers have been pretty stable the past couple of months, said Steve Buck, a Providence spokesperson.

Testing sites are available at pharmacies such as CVS, Walgreens or RiteAid and at the Roseland Community Center and the Coddington Mall in Santa Rosa, the Bluebird Center in Windsor, the Rohnert Park Community Center and the Healdsburg Community Center, through OptumServe and at various churches in the county. Go to myturn.ca.gov/testing.html.

“As cases do go up, we are seeing more people wanting to get testing, maybe as they start getting symptoms, and we encourage that,” Brown said. “That’s still the best way we can bring case rates down.

For the latest information on test and case information for Sonoma County, go to tinyurl.id/XeORQ.

You can reach Staff Writer Kathleen Coates at kathleen.coates@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5209.