Long lines at testing sites in Ventura County
VENTURA, Calif. -- There are four days until Thanksgiving and thousands of people are now trying to get tested before getting together with family.
COVID-19 testing centers in Ventura County are jammed packed. Thousands of people came out to several locations Monday, hoping to get tested before the Thanksgiving holiday.
“We went to Colorado for a trip and we just came back yesterday so we wanted to get tested before Thanksgiving,” said Ava Otten, a Ventura resident.
The Ventura County Fairgrounds mega-testing site had a line that stretched out to the other side of the parking lot.
“This is the longest line we have seen at the Fairgrounds thus far, and I anticipate it will be like this tomorrow,” said Linda Bays, who is with Ventura County Health Care Agency.
Nick Moody brought his whole family out and said the hour and a half wait was well worth it.
“We are having our grandpa who is older over so we just want to be safe and make sure none of us have it before we get together for Thanksgiving,” said Moody.
But health experts caution people that a negative test result doesn't necessarily mean you are in the clear.
“I just hope people understand that your test that you do today if it comes back negative, you’re negative for today,” said Bays. “But if you have direct exposure to someone who has tested positive you have up to 14 days to show symptoms. You could develop symptoms and be positive 10 days after exposure.”
At Rio Plaza elementary school in Oxnard, another long line with wait times of up to two hours. Grace Leo and her husband made the drive from Thousand Oaks.
“We thought the line would be shorter,” said Leo.
Not everyone in line came because of the holiday.
“They were having free testing here at Rio Plaza and so I thought I would take advantage of that,” said Nicole Ruelas, who lives in Oxnard.
The Ventura Fairgrounds testing site will be closed Wednesday and Thursday of this week, but will have a pop up site at Community Park in Ventura on Wednesday.
