The Orange County Convention Center test site and other state-run sites are expecting a surge in testing over the next few days as people return from Thanksgiving.
At the Orange County Convention Center test site on Monday morning there was an hour long wait time and some 1,800 tests were conducted on Sunday.
PIO Mike Jachles says residents should get tested if they have symptoms regardless of whether they traveled over the holidays.
Jachles says residents with symptoms should get tested immediately, but people without symptoms who think they might have been exposed should wait a few days.
“It’s best to wait three to five days to get tested. If you race out right away the minute you get back and think that that test is going to be accurate, you may be mislead.”
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Jachles says getting a test right after exposure may mean a person's body isn't shedding enough of the virus for a test to pick it up.
“Just because they get a negative test right away doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re negative.”
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Jachles says anyone, of any age, with or without symptoms can get tested on site and recommends people make an appointment ahead of time.
He says the convention center offers the rapid and PCR coronavirus tests, as well as the antibody test.
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