PASADENA, Calif.—As people are heading back to work and school following the holiday break, many COVID-19 testing centers are booked until next week. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported nearly 45,000 cases over New Year’s weekend, putting testing centers under strain. Madison Torres, a local resident, was waiting in line to take a COVID-19 test at Exer Urgent Care in Pasadena Jan. 3. She said she needed to take the test before returning to work, but had trouble booking an appointment and could only do a walk-in. “I’ve tried to look online and they’ve been booked until the middle of January,” Torres told The Epoch Times. Arturo and Esther Santamaria, an elderly couple living in Alhambra who were also waiting to take a COVID-19 test, said they just came back from vacation in Mexico last week and tried to take a rapid test at two other testing …