Santa Barbara County closing two testing centers as COVID-19 cases rise
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Throughout the past pandemic year testing has been critical for Santa Barbara County’s COVID-19 response.
For well over a year, the Goleta Valley Community Center was the go-to spot to get tested for COVID-19.
“Having an open and available community testing site where people can come in and get tested quickly and efficiently has been a huge help to the community," Santa Barbara County EMS Systems Coordinator Matt Higgs said.
“It was made available and it was centrally located for people to come to and it relieved their mental stress," said Charlie Johnson, The Goleta Valley Community Center General Manager.
Thousands of tests were administered at the Goleta center and it helped identify cases quickly.
"The median turnaround time has been ranging between about 24 and 36 hours, so it’s drastically improved over what we saw in the early days of the pandemic," Higgs said.
But now, it has slowed down.
So Santa Barbara county will close this site next week.
Tomorrow the free COVID-19 testing site in Buellton will be closed for good.
And then a week later…this site will be shut down as well.
“We haven’t really seen an increase in traffic in our community testing sites over the last month or so," Higgs said.
Despite a resurgence in local covid cases since thanksgiving.
The county health department says that there are a lot more available avenues for people to get tested thanks to high rates of vaccination.
“Fewer people with COVID, fewer people with symptoms, fewer people that are exposed to somebody with COVID," Higgs said. "So, there’s a significant decrease in the need for testing.”
Playing a pivotal part in keeping the community safe…most believe this testing site was a big benefit to everyone.
“You could just see the relief, once they got their tests and once they got their results. You have to look at this as a positive event for the entire community," Johnson concluded.
Despite these coming closures, Santa Barbara County will still have four free testing sights available, stretching from Santa Barbara to Santa Maria. To schedule a test, click here.
The Public Health Department also has put plans in place to distribute home testing kits.
