Kern County launched a new testing site today in Arvin.

This site comes after Governor Gavin Newsom’s recent announcement to add more than 80 community testing sites across the state focused on underserved communities, according to a news release by the County.

“This testing site will help Kern dramatically increase testing needs for individuals who have had limited access to COVID-19 tests up until now,” said Kern County Supervisor David Couch. “We’re thrilled to partner with the state and OptumServe to help ensure our communities are healthy, while also helping meet California’s testing goals.” 

This new site is one of 80 testing sites powered through a partnership with OptumServe, the federal government health services business of Optum, a leading health services innovation company. 

The new testing site is now accepting appointments and information can be found on KernCounty.com. Testing will be by appointment only.  

To determine where to locate new testing sites, the state looked at both rural and urban areas where Californians would have to travel between 30 and 60 minutes to reach an existing testing site or hospital. That information was then evaluated based on underserved populations, to address known disparities, and median income, so residents have access to testing regardless of socioeconomic status.