San Rafael, CA – Marin County’s partnership with Curative Inc. is expanding to bring additional observed and directed self-collected oral fluid swab COVID-19 testing to Marin. Six locations were announced on December 17, and a seventh location that will operate five days per week is set to open on Wednesday, January 6.
The new drive-through testing location in San Rafael offers FDA-authorized self-collected oral fluid swabing that is observed and directed by a healthcare worker. Instead of doing nasal swabs, residents will simply open a swab package, cough deeply three to five times and swab inside each cheek, upper and lower gum, underneath and on top of the tongue, and the roof of the mouth. This swab is then placed inside a biohazard bag and returned to a Curative worker. Results are returned within 72 hours by email or text.
The new site is located at the “Armory Parking Lot” along Civic Center Drive in San Rafael (commonly referred to as the Jury parking lot which is east of the Marin County Civic Center and just south of Lagoon Park). The site will operate 11 AM to 5 PM on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 8 AM to 2 PM on Mondays and Wednesdays.
In addition to the new site in San Rafael, Curative has expanded the operating hours of its San Geronimo testing location, from 10am to 4pm on Mondays, adding four additional hours of testing appointments. To accommodate the longer schedule, the location will move just down the road to the San Geronimo Golf Course.
All curative testing sites remain free, but appointments must be scheduled in advance through the Curative website (available in English and Spanish). Appointment slots open about 3-4 days in advance of each scheduled testing day. The updated schedule of Marin County -based Curative test sites includes:
- Bolinas: Mondays, 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM; Bolinas Fire Station (100 Mesa Road)
- Larkspur: Thursdays starting January 7, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM; Piper Park (250 Doherty Drive)
- Novato: Fridays starting January 8, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM; Novato Library (1720 Novato Boulevard)
- San Anselmo: Tuesdays, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM; United Market (100 Red Hill Avenue)
- San Geronimo: UPDATED! Mondays, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM; San Geronimo Golf Course parking lot (5800 Sir Francis Drake Blvd)
- San Rafael: Starting January 6; Armory Parking Lot (Armory Drive)
- Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
- Mondays and Wednesdays, 8:00 AM – 2:00 PM
- Sausalito: Wednesdays starting January 6, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM; Sausalito City Hall (420 Litho Street)
"Curative is thrilled to partner with Marin County to bring more free, accessible, and convenient COVID-19 testing to the North Bay,” said Shoshana Gould, Curative’s Partnerships Manager for the Bay Area. “We are looking forward to fully-launching this week and keeping everyone safe and healthy with our mobile van unit and drive through in San Rafael. Marin County is the 6th county in the Bay Area with Curative-run testing, following San Mateo, San Francisco, Alameda, Sonoma, and Santa Clara."
COVID-19 testing is a vital tool in Marin Public Health’s toolkit to end the spread of Coronavirus in our local community. Testing informs infected individuals, even those who are not showing symptoms, that they need to isolate and avoid spreading the virus to others.
In addition to the new Curative testing locations, residents can access testing through offices of health care providers, dedicated test sites, and Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved home testing kits. Mail-in home testing options are gaining in popularity as a convenient alternative to traveling to a testing site.
Anyone seeking a COVID-19 test should first contact a health care provider. Most providers now offer testing for their patients and are required to do so under California public health regulations. Those without health insurance should contact a local health care clinic or seek testing from one of the community test sites listed at Coronavirus.MarinHHS.org/testing.