San Rafael, CA – In an effort to speed up turnaround time for COVID-19 testing, Marin County is partnering with Burlingame-based health technology company Color, which will take over the drive-through COVID-19 testing behind Marin Center in San Rafael.
Qualified Marin residents can schedule tests online for the location in San Rafael. Qualified Marin residents can schedule tests
online. To be eligible for testing at the Marin Center site, Marin residents must:
- experience COVID-19 symptoms including fever, chills, cough, congestion, sore throat, difficulty breathing, headache, fatigue, vomiting, diarrhea, or new loss of taste or smell;
- have been informed by Marin County Public Health that they have had close contact with a person confirmed to have COVID-19;
- work in a high-risk setting such as a hospital or medical clinic, long-term care facility, homeless shelter or prison; or
- experience frequent contact with the public on a daily basis through jobs such as first responders, teachers, personal caregivers, housekeepers, construction workers, food service workers, and grocery store workers.
The County is taking the step to improve access to efficient, accurate testing and return test results more quickly. Color plans to boost capacity at the site to 300 tests per day, up from 220 under the County’s coordination, and return COVID-19 test results to people tested at the site within 1-3 days (24-72 hours).
“This site represents one of our many initiatives to protect Marin County residents as we navigate our way forward through the pandemic,” said the County’s Public Health Officer, Dr. Matt Willis. “With Color, we can provide free, fast and accurate testing so that people in our community can keep themselves, their neighbors, and their loved ones safe.”
“People should not only have access to reliable testing during this pandemic, but they should also receive results quickly enough to help prevent the spread of an outbreak,” said Color CEO Othman Laraki. “Color is committed to supporting local efforts to combat the crisis in the Bay Area and this partnership further demonstrates how technological solutions can address the pandemic at scale.”
Color has a track record of improving access to COVID-19 testing for its partners since the pandemic spread to the U.S. Working with San Francisco Mayor London Breed’s CityTestSF program, Color has made efficient COVID-19 testing available to all essential workers in the city. Color also has built the public health infrastructure to support workforce testing for private employers and universities such as the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Ga.
The Marin Center testing site is located at 10 Avenue of the Flags. The hours of operation are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. Health insurance is not required. Tests are by appointment only; drop-ins are not accepted.