Get Coronavirus Tested: Multiple Options Available In East San José, Gilroy Through County And Testing Partners

Press release from the Santa Clara County Government:

December 12, 2020

Other Opportunities in Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Cupertino, Campbell, Los Altos and Palo Alto  

Santa Clara County, CA – Health officials would like to remind the community of the abundant COVID-19 testing opportunities available in East San José and Gilroy at County of Santa Clara sites as well as those run by our testing partners.

While testing rates are increasing overall in Santa Clara County and far exceed the state median, more testing is needed in the East San José and Gilroy areas where the positivity rate is much higher than the county average.

County efforts have zeroed in on the areas. East San José has a mass-testing facility at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds operating seven days a week with a capacity of 5,000 tests a day on the popular midweek days of Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. There is also a no-appointment drop-in site at Emmanuel Baptist Church on N. White Road and an additional testing opportunity on Friday at the Public Health Story Road Hub, in the shopping center at King and Story roads.

In Gilroy, there is an ongoing drop-in site at the South County Annex on Wren Avenue from Tuesday through Friday, and an additional opportunity on Tuesday at San Ysidro Park, also on a drop-in basis.

In addition to the sites run by Valley Medical Center, testing is available through partner organizations. Gardner Health Services offers drop-in testing at Mexican Heritage Plaza on Wednesdays, while appointment-based testing is available through Project Baseline, which operates at Mount Pleasant and Independence High Schools, all in East San José. OptumServe operates a site at James Lick High School in East San José and a site at the Gilroy Civic Center.

Find more information on hours of operation at all sites below.

“Testing remains essential in stopping the spread of the virus,” said Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, COVID-19 Testing Officer for the County of Santa Clara. “We continue to urge essential workers to get tested at least monthly – it’s the only way to determine if someone is infected.”

For those with healthcare coverage, systems such as Kaiser Permanente, Sutter/Palo Alto Medical Foundation and others are required by County order to offer free testing to symptomatic persons, persons who have been exposed to a confirmed COVID-19 case, and all “essential workers.” Examples of “essential workers” include teachers, healthcare workers, grocery store clerks, and persons who work in agriculture or food manufacturing.

Next week, appointment-only County COVID-19 testing will be conducted at sites in Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Cupertino, Campbell, Los Altos and Palo Alto. Appointments can be made starting  seven days in advance of the testing date until all slots are reserved at www.sccfreetest.org. Appointment-based testing is also available in San José at the Fairgrounds, with appointments now available  five days in advance. Testing is free at all these sites. Appointments are essential for reserving a testing slot.

APPOINTMENT-BASED TESTING SITES —Make an appointment by visiting www.sccfreetest.org and clicking on “Schedule an Appointment Today”

Text message results are available at appointment-based County of Santa Clara testing facilities and an influenza test is included.

East San José

Santa Clara County Fairgrounds Parking Lot A (across from the blue arch) - Drive-through, bike, and walk-up appointments Across the street from the Fairgrounds main entrance, 344 Tully Road, San José, CA 95111 Appointment hours: Monday, Dec. 14, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Tuesday to Thursday, Dec. 15 – 17, 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Friday, Dec. 18, 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 19-20, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Sunnyvale

Murphy Park, 260 N. Sunnyvale Ave., Sunnyvale, 94086 By appointment only for Monday, Dec. 14, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Mountain View

Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View, 94041 By appointment only for Tuesday, Dec. 15, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Cupertino

Cupertino Senior Center, 21251 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino, 95014
By appointment only for Wednesday, Dec. 16, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Campbell

Orchard City Banquet Hall (in the Campbell Community Center), 1 W. Campbell Ave., Campbell, 95008 By appointment only for Thursday, Dec. 17, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Los Altos

Los Altos Youth Center, 1 N. San Antonio Road, Los Altos, 94022 By appointment only for Thursday, Dec. 17, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Palo Alto

Palo Alto Art Center auditorium, 1313 Newell Road, Palo Alto, 94303 By appointment only for Friday, Dec. 18, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

PARTNER TESTING SITES – By appointment only.

OptumServe Testing

James Lick High School, 2951 Alum Rock Ave., San José, 95127 Tuesday to Saturday, Dec. 15 – 19, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Gilroy Civic Center, 7351 Church St., Gilroy, 95020 Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 14 – 15, Friday to Sunday, Dec. 18 – 20, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Appointments available at https://lhi.care/covidtesting or 1-888-634-1123. OptumServe sites are open to individuals 12 and older.

Project Baseline Testing

Mount Pleasant High School, 1750 S. White Road, San José, 95127 Monday to Friday, Dec. 14 – 18, 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 19, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Independence High School 617 North Jackson Avenue, San José, 95133 Monday to Friday Dec. 14 – 18, 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 20, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Appointments available at www.projectbaseline.com.

POP-UP TESTING SITES – No appointments needed and only for people without symptoms.

East San José

Emmanuel Baptist Church, 467 N. White Road, San José, 95127 Tuesday to Friday, Dec. 15 – Dec. 18, 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Public Health Story Road Hub, 1775 Story Road, San José, 95122 Friday, Dec. 18, 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Gardner Health Services at Mexican Heritage Plaza 1700 Alum Rock Ave, San José, 95116
Wednesday, Dec. 16, 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Gilroy

South County Annex (formerly Del Buono Elementary) – 9300 Wren Ave., Gilroy, 95020 Tuesday to Friday, Dec. 15 – Dec. 11, 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

San Ysidro Park, 7700 Murray Ave., Gilroy, 95020 Tuesday, Dec. 15, 1 to 5:30 p.m.

In order to facilitate the testing process and reduce waiting times, staff may distribute wristbands that will correspond to specific testing time windows. When patients receive a wristband, they may be asked to return during their assigned testing window. Once all wristbands have been handed out, the testing site can no longer take additional patients for the day.

The County test sites provide COVID-19 tests free of charge, regardless of immigration status, and no doctor’s note is needed. At some County test sites, people with insurance may be asked to provide their insurance information, so that payment from the insurance company can be collected. However, patients won’t be billed for any co-pay, deductible, or any other cost for testing. Those without health insurance or those who do not provide insurance information can still get a test at those sites.

For people without COVID-19 symptoms, the County currently offers indoor and drive-through sites. People with symptoms are directed to drive-through sites to reduce the chance of getting others sick.

For more information on testing rights, see our Frequently Asked Questions page. The County also collects and publishes data on testing by large healthcare systems: https://www.sccgov.org/sites/covid19/Pages/dashboard-testing.aspx#hstesting.

All test sites are mapped on the County’s website at www.sccfreetest.org. The site is available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Tagalog. Information is also available by calling 2-1-1.

This press release was produced by the Santa Clara County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.