Free Covid testing is being offered at the Tulare County Fairgrounds.

Community testing offered by OptumServe will move to the Tulare County Fairgrounds from the International Agri-Center on Oct. 5, according to a press release from Tulare County Health and Human Services. Tulare County partnered with the company OptumServe.

Testing will take place in Building one on the corner of Martin Luther King Avenue and K Street in Tulare. The site will operate Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

For those with medical insurance OptumServe will bill the insurance company. The cost of testing for uninsured people will be footed by the state.

The announcement comes as Gov. Gavin Newsom changed the requirements that allows counties to move to the next color-coded tier determining what businesses can operate.

Beginning Oct. 6, counties will have to reach an equity metric demonstrating that case rates and number of positive tests for disadvantaged zip codes do not fall behind the rest of the county.

“In an effort to increase COVID-19 testing in our local communities, we encourage everyone to get tested for COVID-19,” stated Dr. Karen Haught, Tulare County health officer. “Having widespread testing of COVID-19 in Tulare County will improve surveillance and is beneficial to meeting required testing metrics in order to move Tulare County into less restrictive tiers for reopening schools and businesses.”

Appointments can be made online at https://lhi.care/covidtesting or by phone at 1-888-634-1123. Phone registration should be for those without internet access or for those making an appointment for minors, the release stated.

Other testing facilities in Tulare County include:

—Dinuba Veterans Memorial Building, 249 S. Alta Ave. in Dinuba, open Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

—Porterville Veterans Memorial Building, 1900 W. Olive Ave. in Porterville, open Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.