Thread by @fi_lowenstein

woke up today in LA w the goal of getting tested (to be safe, no known exposure/symptoms). I've spent >half my day looking for free testing sites nearby, w/o luck. I'm insured, have flex work hours, and am an expert on COVID. if it's this hard for me, there's a big fucking issue

the LA county website mainly directs to CVS stores (none of which have available appointments). when I went to the CVS near me to ask, I was told to log on at midnight tonight when appointments for thurs would become available (for about an hour before they are all booked).

I'm aware of + continuing to research a variety of options (and will update here and on IG once I figure out a sustainable solution for weekly, free, reliable PCR testing in LA), but I feel a sense of overwhelming despair rn at how many deterrents there are to getting tested

update: I've managed to book tests w three diff sites / companies for tmrw, wed, and thursday. I'm doing tests daily bc I was w/ more people than usual last week (outdoors ofc, but still) and I want to have backups if these sites don't work out the way I want. will report back!

Just to be clear (since this is getting attention):
1) I was looking for free PCR tests nearby — there are some rapid and self admin’d tests (less reliable) that I’d have to drive 40+ min to (which is obv what I’m doing now)
2) multiple tests is recommended for accuracy! We…

should not be in a situation where test scarcity means people who are not yet symptomatic are being shamed for testing multiple x to confirm negative status — testing regularly over the course of 10 days after potential exposure is a best practice for accuracy

Finally, test accessibility issues are not new. If you’ve followed my work during the pandemic you know I talk about this a lot. My experience this week seemed worth highlighting given the current surge + fact that this city is supposed to have easily accessible widespread tests