The county of San Diego has partnered with the Vista Unified School District and the city of Vista to open a new free COVID-19 testing site in Vista.
The location opened on Veterans Day at the Linda Rhoades Recreation Center to a small but steady flow of people. The county expects crowds to grow once more people learn about the site.
The school district said the testing site is part of a multilayered approach to expand testing for the community, but it comes as two high schools remain closed for in-class learning, with almost two dozen positive cases and hundreds in quarantine.
Since an in-class-learning option was offered to parents for their children, 22 students districtwide have tested positive for COVID.
On Wednesday, many of the people getting tested were parents, who brought their children.
“I’ve been considering, How do we get tested? How do we make sure we’re safe?” parent Bonnie McGee said. “Just knowing that we have a free option, and it’s convenient and quick and easy. It’s amazing. It was a godsend.”
McGee’s children attend schools in the Vista Unified School District but are learning virtually.
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“I would like them to go back safely in January, and I want to make sure they’re keeping other fellow students safe and their teachers safe," McGee said.
Both of her children recognize the importance of getting tested.
“We want to get tested so we can make sure other people are safe as well as ourselves,” said Finnegan McGee, 10, a fifth-grader at Casita Center Elementary School.
“I would think other students should get tested, too, to make sure that they know if they have it, then to stay quarantined to make sure that the rest of California’s safe,” said Sedona McGee, 12, a sixth-grader at Vista Innovation and Design Academy.
People interested in visiting the new testing location in Vista can register using a QR code on their phones once they get to the site. The testing is done through a self-administered nasal swab, with results in less than three days, typically.
The Linda Rhoades Recreation Center is located at 600 North Santa Fe Ave. in Vista. The testing site is open seven days a week, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
