City Begins Testing on Monday, More Funds for Rent Relief Program
Vital Medical Services nurses use nasal swabs to collect specimens for COVID-19 testing at City of Alhambra's mobile testing site. Photo by Helen Arase.
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Alhambra , CAThe City of Alhambra will resume COVID-19 testing of 80 to 100 residents a day on Monday.
Staff from Vital Medical Services will perform the tests through nasal swabs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Saturday until August 11 in front of Alhambra High School on Second Street, either as drive-through or walk-up.
Residents will need to sign up online for test appointments.
The Alhambra City Council voted at its July 13 meeting to use a second federal and state COVID-19 grant to repeat the testing and to provide housing assistance for 200 more families.
The housing assistance will be given using the same lottery system as when names were drawn for the first round in May. City Manager Jessica Binnquist suggested starting with those on the first waitlist – about 70 families – then drawing another 130.
On Thursday, the city told Alhambra Source it had compiled the new list of 200 households to receive the assistance and now had 100 additional names on a new waitlist.
For more information go to the city’s emergency housing assistance website.
Alhambra was awarded nearly $1.1 million of CARES Act Relief Funds through the State of California. Of this, $300,000 will go towards COVID-19 testing for 1,600 more residents and $300,000 in housing assistance.
More than $470,000 will go to reimburse the city for overtime, public information, personal protective equipment, cleaning and implementation of social distancing guidelines in public facilities.
In other action at its July 13 meeting, the council adopted the Strategic Plan it previously laid out in June. The plan prioritizes housing and zoning – including affordable housing, rezoning and revitalization, green space, biking and historic preservation – and looks into the city’s future with goals that include the 710-freeway project, police recruiting pipeline and technology upgrades.
At its next meeting on July 27, the council will revisit the Arroyo Village Residential Condominium Project, a 41-unit San Gabriel condominium project that builds to Alhambra’s city limits. Most of the comments from residents during the July 13 council meeting were against the Arroyo Village project.
For all of the reporting from the Alhambra Source, go to our Stay Healthy page.
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