SFDPH tweeted that the testing vendor, Color, was experiencing technical difficulties resulting in the closing of these sites: Ella Hill Hutch, Alemany, Seventh and Brannan streets, Southeast Health Center, 20 Norton and Bayview Opera House.
"We're working with Color to accommodate those who had appointments today. We will provide updates as we learn more and have next steps," said SFDPH.
A spokesperson for Color said the technical issues affected the company's patient registration and sample-collection software.
"We apologize for the stress and inconvenience this has caused," the spokesperson said in an email.
The closures came after the health department announced that four testing sites would reduce their hours of operation for an unspecified amount of time in response to staffing shortages and soaring processing times for test results, city health officials said.
"We currently estimate that this will reduce SFDPH [testing] capacity by about 4%, or approximately 250 tests per day out of the current seven-day average of 6,000 tests per day at SFDPH-affiliated sites," health officials said in a statement. It was not immediately clear when three of the four affected sites would resume their full hours of operation.
Each site would reduce their operating hours by either two or three hours. The new hours at the four affected testing sites are:
- Ella Hill Hutch, open 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Alemany, open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- 7th and Brannan, open noon to 6 p.m.
- Southeast Health Center — which was expected to experience reduced hours only on Monday — 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
San Francisco health officials said they would distribute around 150,000 rapid COVID tests this week in an effort to offset the effects of the reduced hours at the four city sites.
According to the statement, SFDPH-affiliated sites have greatly increased testing capacity in recent weeks, more than doubling the number of tests since the omicron surge. Before the surge, some sites have been operating at between 500% and 900% above capacity levels, the health department said.
SFDPH urged people to check with their health care provider first for COVID-19 tests and to not go to emergency rooms for testing.
The reduced hours come at a moment in which coronavirus infections, fueled by the omicron variant, have risen dramatically, prompting a huge demand for testing. Yet tests themselves remain scarce.
Bay Area residents have expressed growing frustration with the inability to find COVID-19 testing as the omicron surge continues. With appointments at testing sites booked out for weeks, lines around the block at walk-up sites and rapid home tests flying off the shelves at drugstores, many residents have run out of options.
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