California Calls Out National Guard To Increase Covid Testing Amid Record-Breaking Surge

deadline.com:

California Governor Gavin Newsom today announced he has activated the California National Guard to support local communities with additional testing facilities and capacity amid the surge in Covid cases driven by the Omicron variant.

The state’s National Guard plan will deploy over 200 Cal Guard members across 50 Optum Serve sites around California, providing interim clinical staff while permanent staff are hired, adding capacity for walk-ins, assisting with crowd control and back-filling for staff absences – all in an effort to conduct more tests.

Additional members of the Guard will be deployed next week in similar capacities, according to the governor’s office. Los Angeles is experiencing not just a shortage of rapid tests, but also a scarcity of appointments for the more reliable PCR tests.

And with LAUSD and other schools starting back up next week, the region is wise to flood the zone in hope of catching outbreaks at their outset.While the state today recorded the highest number of tests administered ever, the 7-day test positivity rate has continued to soar.