Sean Penn ups fight against COVID-19

The Oscar winner’s disaster relief organization has administered more than 1.3 million tests in a five-month span.

LOS ANGELES » Sean Penn has expanded his fight against the coronavirus beyond his own expectations.

The Oscar winner’s disaster relief organization CORE has gone from providing 6,500 tests in a couple of weeks to administering more than 1.3 million within a five-month span.

The organization started at four sites in Los Angeles and currently operates in 32 locations in cities including New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans and Washington, D.C.

The organization, which started as an international relief group, had initially planned to operate testing sites in Los Angeles for three months.

It’s now expanding its services and bracing for the winter months, when the virus could surge and strain resources.

CORE, which stands for Community Organized Relief Effort, has since late March grown to 900 staff and volunteers. It has been testing an average of 15,000 people per day in Los Angeles since May 26, CORE officials said.

Penn applauded the efforts of those who have willingly helped his organization during the pandemic.

“We were able to come in and absorb some sites then expand out to other sites,” Penn said, while CORE workers wore hazard suits to distribute tests at a free drivethru COVID-19 test site in Los Angeles.

The organization is focused on giving free tests to low-income groups and communities along with first responders and essential workers.

“We recruited very quickly at the beginning, because people wanted to help,” he said. “They feel there’s an energy that’s going to make a real impact.”

Penn’s organization has already implemented its own guidelines called “The Core 8” to combat the virus.

It includes delivering test results within 48 hours, a government-supported contact tracing system, food and hygiene kits along with financial aid for households with positive case results.

The actor hopes CORE’s initiative can help slow the spread of the virus, especially before more people gather indoors due to colder temperatures.

Actor Sean Penn, founder of Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE)