Free At-Home COVID Tests Available For Pick Up In Santa Clara Co.

Eric He
Updated ·2 min read

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — Santa Clara County is offering free at-home COVID-19 antigen tests for people to pick up at several locations.

Anyone who lives, works or attends school in the county can receive four iHealth COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Tests, with appointments available beginning Saturday. Appointments must be made through sccfreetest.org, and people will be given a QR code to display and receive their tests. No drop-in service is available, according to the county.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for community members to pick up antigen tests for rapid at-home testing,” said Miguel Márquez, Chief Operations Officer for the County of Santa Clara. “Testing is key to knowing whether you have COVID, which should help limit the spread of the virus, and will help get people back to their normal lives by safely ending isolation or quarantine early with a negative test.”

The four sites where tests can be picked up are:

  • Hellyer County Park, 985 Hellyer Ave., San José

  • Martial Cottle Park, 5283 Snell Ave., San José

  • Vasona County Park, 333 Blossom Hill Road, Los Gatos

  • Foothill College, 12345 El Monte Road, Los Altos Hills (offers evening hours)

The county program supplements the federal government’s initiative to mail four antigen tests to each household at covidtests.gov. The county’s outreach teams also plan to distribute tests to disproportionately impacted communities, first responders and other essential workers.

The county expects more than 15,000 appointments to be scheduled in the next week, and officials will assess whether the program should be expanded based on need and availability of tests.

At-home antigen tests can be used to shorten isolation or quarantine periods for those who have tested positive or been exposed to someone with COVID-19, and should be recognized as valid, health officials said.

While PCR tests are more sensitive, health officials said there is no need to follow-up with a PCR test after a positive antigen test.

This article originally appeared on the Gilroy Patch