Zero white people tested positive for COVID-19 in study of Mission District residents in San Francisco

The website Stat New s took a close look at the demographics of the people who tested positive for COVID-19 in a study conducted in San Francisco's Mission District.

"Not a single white person tested positive, though 34% of the tract's residents are white, according to the U.S. Census; 58% are Hispanic," Stat News reported.

In a major effort led by UC San Francisco, free, voluntary COVID-19 testing was offered to every resident in a 16-block area running from Cesar Chavez to 23rd Street and South Van Ness to Harrison Street. From April 25-28, more than 4,000 people were tested.

Of those who tested positive, 95% were Latinx and 5% Asian or Pacific Islander.

“When we all saw these results most people were a little spellbound,” Dr. Diane Havlir, chief of the UCSF Division of HIV, Infection, and Global Disease at San Francisco General, told Stat News. “It was sobering.”

Researchers conducted two types of tests to identify those individuals who are currently infected and those who previously had the virus. The diagnostic test for active COVID-19 was implemented by collecting samples with nasal swabs while the antibody test was done with a finger-prick to collect a blood sample. Results were available within 72 hours.