SAN DIGEO — San Diego County leaders Monday visited a COVID-19 testing site in City Heights as people face long lines around the area.

Board Chairman Nathan Fletcher, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Eric McDonald and Chief Nursing Officer Dr. Denise Foster were among those who went inside the testing site to meet with workers and thank them for their ongoing commitment to helping San Diegans.

After the site tour, county officials spoke about testing availability, the vaccine and booster shots and what their plan is for homeless testing COVID positive.

“As we move into the next few weeks and what we are experiencing right now, I think what we want to convey to San Diegans is that we just have to continue to be cautious because of the spread, particularly of omicron, but also to bring a calmness to this,” Fletcher said. “We’ve been through multiple iterations, and the situation we face today is fundamentally different than the situation we faced a year ago, because we now have a vaccine.”

On New Year’s Day, hundreds of people headed to testing sites in Encanto and North County, waiting in long lines for over two hours to get a test before going back to work or school.

According to the latest state figures, the number of coronavirus patients in San Diego County hospitals has surged to almost 600. As of Saturday, 590 people in the county were hospitalized with COVID-19, up from 510 on Friday and 475 on Thursday.

 The testing site is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. No appointment is needed.