Press release from the Humboldt County Joint Information Center:

Humboldt County’s COVID-19 case rate is on an upward trend, and local health officials urge all community residents to get tested if they are experiencing symptoms and note that testing options have expanded to additional locations across the North Coast.  

Humboldt County Public Health Director Michele Stephens said that even with progress in the county’s vaccination efforts, there are still a large number of residents who are not vaccinated and have no immunity at all against this virus. 

“Testing is a crucial component of containing positive cases before they have a chance to spread so we can move past this pandemic,” Stephens said. “Here in Humboldt, we are fortunate to have lots of convenient and free testing options available to residents. Getting tested helps keep all of us safer, particularly those most vulnerable to severe disease.”  

Individuals who are not fully vaccinated should be tested if they have been exposed to someone with COVID-19, have traveled out of state or have participated in higher risk activities such as attending large gatherings. Testing is now available in even more areas of the county.  

No-cost testing is available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week through the OptumServe site at Redwood Acres located at 3750 Harris St. in Eureka. OptumServe’s mobile testing sites also offer testing in a different location of the county each weekday. 

OptumServe testing locations:

  • Arcata – Mondays, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (Arcata Community Center, 321 M.L.K. Jr. Pkwy.)
  • Garberville – Tuesdays, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (SoHum Health Sprowl Creek Campus, 286 Sprowl Creek Road) 
  • Fortuna – Wednesdays, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (River Lodge Conference Center, 1800 Riverwalk Dr.)
  • Hoopa – Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (Tsewenaldin Inn, 12482 CA-96)
  • McKinleyville – Fridays, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (Azalea Hall, 1620 Pickett Road). 
To schedule, go to lhi.care/covidtesting, or call 888-634-1123. 
After initially focusing on testing for facilities and a small number of tribal sites, the North Coast Testing Partnership (NCTP) is now expanding to include broad testing of tribal groups  across Humboldt and Del Norte counties. This expansion is possible due to increased testing capacity at the NCTP laboratory and the completion of the online registration and reporting platform. 

The partnership between the two counties and United Indian Health Services (UIHS) launched last year to provide a local COVID-19 testing option. While this is primarily intended for tribal populations, anyone can receive a test at one of the collection sites listed below.  

Humboldt County NCTP testing locations:

  • Bear River Rancheria – Tuesdays, 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. (266 Keisner Road, Loleta)
  • Weitchpec Tribal Office – Every other Thursday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., (Hwy 96, Weitchpec)
  • Trinidad – Every other Monday, 1 to 3 p.m., (foot of Bay St., Trinidad)
  • Blue Lake Rancheria – Wednesdays, 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. (RV parking lot behind 777 Casino Way #777, Blue Lake)
  • Orick – Every other Monday, 1 to 3 p.m., (120025 U. S. Hwy. 101, Orick) 
Del Norte County NCTP testing locations:
  • Crescent Elk Middle School – Thursdays, 3:30 to 5 p.m. (994 G St., Crescent City)
  • Howonquet (Xaa-Wan’-K’wvt) Hall Community Center – Every other Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. (101 Indian Ct., Smith River)
  • Margaret Keating Elementary School – Tuesdays, 3:30 to 5 p.m., (300 Minot Creek Road, Klamath)
  • Elk Valley Rancheria – Every other Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.,  (2332 Howland Hill Road, Crescent City) 
Walk-ups are allowed at each testing site. To sign up for a test in advance and to learn more about NCTP, go to northcoasttestingpartnership.org.  

Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines will also be offered by UIHS at some NCTP testing sites. These Mobile Vaccine clinics are walk-up and open to all residents age 18 and older.  Available sites and dates are listed below.  
UIHS Mobile Vaccine locations and schedule:

  • Bear River Rancheria – Every other Tuesday beginning May 11, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (266 Keisner Road, Loleta)
  • Weitchpec Tribal Office – Every other Thursday beginning May 20, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., (Hwy 96, Weitchpec)
  • Trinidad – Every other Monday beginning May 17, 1 to 3 p.m., (foot of Bay St., Trinidad)
  • Blue Lake Rancheria – Every other Wednesday beginning May 19, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (RV parking lot behind 777 Casino Way #777, Blue Lake)
  • Orick – Every other Monday beginning May 10, 1 to 3 p.m., (120025 U. S. Hwy. 101, Orick)  
For the most recent COVID-19 information, visit cdc.gov or cdph.ca.gov. Local information is available at humboldtgov.org or by contacting covidinfo@co.humboldt.ca.us or calling 707-441-5000.