The Sanger Community Center is the newest free COVID-19 testing site in Fresno County, officials announced Wednesday.

Sign-ups will begin next Monday and residents can register online at this link. For those without internet access, appointments can be made by calling 1 (888) 634-1123. The tests are by appointment only.

“This new testing site is a great benefit to the health and safety of Sanger residents and our surrounding communities,” said Sanger Mayor Frank Gonzalez. “The Sanger Community Center provides easy access to testing and will help our region continue to make great strides in our fight against COVID-19.”

The site has a daily capacity of performing 132 tests.

Rural Testing Locations

To determine where to locate new testing sites, the state looked at rural and urban areas where Californians would have to travel between 30 and 60 minutes to reach an existing testing site or hospital.

Buddy Mendes, chairman of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors, said he’s “thankful that the state has recognized the need in Fresno County and has taken quick action to increase our testing capacity.”

California Expansion of Testing Sites

A couple of weeks ago, the state announced the expansion of community testing in underserved areas.

“We know that communities of color are disproportionately affected by COVID-19,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom. “We must ensure that we are deploying testing equitably in an effort to reduce the higher death rates we are seeing in African American and Latino communities.”