SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- Gov. Gavin Newsom was in San Diego Friday to tout a bond measure ahead of Election Day, but he also took the time to address California’s response to the spreading coronavirus.
The governor visited Dana Middle School in Point Loma to make a final push for Proposition 13, and during a news conference, he was asked questions about the coronavirus’ effect on the state.
“We haven’t been testing as we should, and I think in the process, people should be prepared that when you do more testing, the results will produce, I imagine, many positive cases. People shouldn’t panic about that,” he said.
Newsom’s remarks come days after a Northern California woman showed up to a hospital with flu-like symptoms and was placed on a ventilator due to her condition.
The woman, from Solano County, was not tested for coronavirus until days later.
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“We have a team of people as protocol, well established to track and trace every point of contact of the individual. That is ‘a community share,’” said Newsom.
Newsom also said many other counties are following the lead of San Diego County, which has been certified to perform coronavirus testing in its labs, eliminating the need to send the samples to the CDC.
By testing locally, results will come back sooner, from 24 to 48 hours. So, if a test comes back negative, the person will be released from isolation sooner.
The governor also mentioned that the CDC has already sent more than 1,000 coronavirus testing kits for use in the state, which he said is useful since there were 200 or so kits that could not be used, though it’s unclear why.
If a test in San Diego comes back positive, it will be sent to the CDC for confirmation.
