Los Angeles is officially the first major city in the United States to offer free coronavirus tests to all of its residents, even those who have not experienced any symptoms. Major of Los Angeles County, Eric Garcetti, made the announcement on Wednesday during his daily briefing. "Tonight, I am proud to announce that Los Angeles will become the first major city in America to offer wide scale testing to all of its residents, with or without symptoms," he stated. Prior to this change, all 34 drive-thru sites around L.A. had restricted testing only to individuals who had experienced symptoms—fever, cough, and/or shortness of breath—or essential front-line workers, like grocery store employees and rideshare drivers, who had not yet experienced symptoms.
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While testing at these sites will now be available to any and all residents, these essential front-line workers and those experiencing symptoms will still be given priority.
However, it's worth nothing that these sites, which have conducted 140,000 tests total over the past month, can now conduct up to 18,000 tests a day. "We have the capacity," Garcetti said. "So don't wait, don't wonder and don't risk infecting others." Folks can sign up here for same-day testing, or they can schedule to be tested the following day.
