Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf joined the KRON4 Morning News to discuss the new testing city as well as how Oakland is coping with the pandemic. Watch the full interview in the video above

OAKLAND (KRON) – Mayor Libby Schaaf announced Monday the city will open a drive-thru coronavirus testing site for essential workers.

The testing center, located at the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center at 10th Street in Oakland, will be open for direct service providers such as healthcare workers, grocery and food bank workers, homeless outreach workers, and others who work directly with the public.

The city says they now have the ability to test 500 people per day at two different locations but at this point, this drive up location is not for the general public.

You can’t walk or drive here and get a test. You have to have an appointment ahead of time.

The mayor said that she hopes at some point it will be able to test everybody but for now this is the best they can do.

“We are constantly evaluating our access to tests as well as where we think those tests will make the most difference and for us we believe that we have got to keep our front line workers and our direct care workers healthy, to be able to track their contacts if it tests positive. So we think that this is the most strategic and impactful place to expand our testing efforts right now. That can change, we re-evaluate every single day but that’s where we are right now,” Schaaf said.

Anyone who thinks they might need a test should contact their employer. The employer should reach out to the city of Oakland and see if you can make an appointment to come down and get tested.

Latest Stories: