Following a successful coronavirus testing event earlier this month at the Palm Springs Convention Center, Riverside County’s mobile testing team is returning to the Coachella Valley to provide free coronavirus tests to residents over the next two weeks.
The Riverside University Health System – Public Health mobile testing team will hold testing events in Coachella, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Sun City Palm Desert, and the unincorporated area adjacent to the City of Desert Hot Springs. Four of the testing sites will be open to the general public, while two others are focused on specific groups, such as staff of a business.
To speed up the process, appointments are highly recommended. Within a few days, residents will be able to make appointments online at https://gettested.ruhealth.org.
The community testing sites, open to any resident, are:
- Grace Church, in the unincorporated area adjacent to the City of Desert Hot Springs, 17 400 Bubbling Wells Rd., 8 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31.
- The Palm Springs Convention Center, located in Palm Springs, 277 N. Avenida Caballeros, 8 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. Nov. 3 and Nov. 4.
- Desert Palms Apartments in Coachella, 50-600 Suncrest St., 8 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. Nov. 4.
- The Palm Desert Community Center in Palm Desert, 43-900 San Pablo Ave., 8 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. Nov. 12 and Nov. 13.
All residents are encouraged to get tested, which helps public health officials identify cases and ultimately slow the spread of the virus by more effectively isolating those who are COVID positive so they can recover without passing the virus to others. Testing is for everyone, regardless of immigration status, insurance, or whether one has symptoms or not. There is no charge to the individual.
“We know we need to increase testing throughout the county and residents are responding to the call, as seen in our recent record number of tests over the past two weeks,” said Supervisor V. Manuel Perez. “We want to bring testing closer to our communities, and we thank businesses and communities for partnering with us to provide locations for testing events.”
In addition, Riverside County is bringing mobile testing to:
- Sun City Palm Desert, 38-180 Del Webb Blvd., Palm Desert, Nov. 6, for residents of Sun City Palm Desert.
- The Living Desert Zoo & Gardens in Palm Desert, 47-900 Portola Ave., Nov. 9, for staff and volunteers of The Living Desert and their families.
These mobile testing sites supplement the county-operated testing site at the Riverside County Fairgrounds in Indio, and state-operated testing sites in Desert Hot Springs and Indio. Riverside County residents are also getting tested at pharmacies, community health centers, nonprofit health clinics, hospitals, private testing sites and urgent cares.
