Free coronavirus testing at Palm Springs Convention Center next week

Free coronavirus tests will be offered next week at the Palm Springs Convention Center, city officials announced today.

The testing event, slated for Nov. 3 and Nov. 4 by appointment only, is being organized by the Riverside University Health System.

While testing is free and open to those who lack health insurance, officials urged people to bring their insurance information so that the county can bill those companies. Those who receive testing and provide their insurance information will not be charged a co-pay or any other fees, according to the Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism.

The announcement comes a week after the California Department of Public Health downgraded Riverside County from the "red tier" under the governor's color-coded coronavirus regulatory scheme back to the more restrictive "purple tier,'' meaning some businesses that had reopened in recent weeks were required to close again.

The designation impacts gyms, restaurants, movie theaters and places of worship.

According to county staff, CDPH administrators decided that, based largely on low testing volumes, the county should be reduced from the red tier to the purple tier for at least three weeks. The county had been in the red for a month, permitting many businesses to reopen with limited capacities.

County officials have been urging residents, including those not experiencing symptoms, to get tested in order to boast the county's testing numbers.

Appointments for the Palm Springs testing event can be made for various time slots between 8 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. by calling 800-945-6171 or at www.rivcoph.org/coronavirus.

The convention center is located at 277 N. Avenida Caballeros.