A long line of cars, 70 vehicles deep at one point, snaked through a Durango neighborhood this week as dozens of residents sought free COVID-19 testing amid a surge in cases.
Durango’s only free COVID-19 community testing site, near the Durango Public Library at 1900 East Third Ave., was slammed Monday and Tuesday.
Residents waited for hours before some were turned away. Cars spilled onto Main Avenue and inched through long lines before reaching the site – when they moved at all.
San Juan Basin Public Health said it is working to improve the situation.
The jammed up traffic at the testing site is a byproduct of rising COVID-19 case numbers in La Plata and Archuleta counties. The rise is slower than in other Colorado regions, but SJBPH is urging community members to take precautions to keep businesses, schools and critical services open this winter.
To keep the virus under control, the health department needs community members to take COVID-19 tests. That’s not so easy when people have to wait in line for hours, days in a row, then wait additional days for results.
“Yesterday, I waited in line for four hours,” said Kele Trujillo, a Durango resident, on Tuesday. When the site closed Monday, Trujillo was half a block from the entrance. “I was pretty frustrated. So I came back today at 8 o’clock. Now, it’s 12:30, so I’ve been waiting for a long-a** time.”
Trujillo wasn’t the only person to wait for hours before being turned away. Three other people interviewed Tuesday by The Durango Herald said the same thing.
Several people arrived early Tuesday for testing – 10 vehicles were already in line at 10 a.m. Testing began at 12:30 p.m. The city of Durango and Durango Police Department helped with traffic control.
“We were a little surprised by it yesterday (Monday). So we fixed the problem today,” said Sgt. Tim Dixon with the police department. “If there’s something we can do to facilitate that testing process ... then we’re going to jump in and try to do that.”
It’s not surprising the testing site found itself in a jam: Testing numbers more than doubled in the last two weeks. During the week of Oct. 25, 74 tests were conducted on average each day. On Monday, the site tested 165 people, said Claire Ninde, SJBPH spokeswoman, in an email to the Herald.
Mercy Regional Medical Center, which offers testing to its patients and staff members and helps with the library testing site, also saw its testing numbers double, said Sarah Silvernail, spokeswoman.
La Plata County has had 242 new cases in the last two weeks, totaling 628 cases as of Tuesday. That’s a faster increase than the county has seen so far. Archuleta County had fewer cases, 81, and slower spread.
“Statewide, cases are rising faster than anyone predicted, and case counts have been surpassing statewide modeling predictions,” Ninde said. “As a result, demands for testing have increased very quickly and steeply everywhere across the state.”
In response to the rising cases, SJBPH and its partners have reactivated their emergency operations center, requested more staffing and testing kits, and extended testing hours, she said.
The health department is starting regular testing in critical sectors, like education, to catch asymptomatic spread. It is using diagnostic tests, the gold standard for detection, and changed labs to decrease wait times for results from five to seven days with the state lab to three to five days.
SJBPH still does not offer rapid testing, which can give quick results but have a lower sensitivity for detecting the virus.
While waiting in their cars for tests Tuesday, three residents said the city should move the testing site or open more locations. SJBPH is considering a testing site at the La Plata County Fairgrounds, Ninde said.
Testing is vital to the disease control effort, Ninde said. Everyone who thinks they have been exposed should consider themselves high-risk and get tested.
“That being said, we don’t want people to make risky choices by socializing without a face covering, attending large gatherings or events, or working while sick, and then go to community testing to see if they ‘got away with it,’” she said.
smullane@durangoherald.com
COVID-19 testing sites
Here is a list of COVID-19 testing sites available in La Plata County and the region:
Durango School District 9-R
Cedar Diagnostics, a Durango medical laboratory, provides emergency testing to Durango School District 9-R staff members and students 24 hours a day, seven days a week at no cost to students or district employees on 9-R’s health insurance.
Results are generally returned within three days.
As needed, 9-R and Cedar Diagnostics have been scheduling quick-access, drive-thru testing at schools that report COVID-19 issues.
Cedar Diagnostics
Cedar Diagnostics provides testing sites in Durango, Cortez and Pagosa Springs. Tests cost $50 in Durango and Cortez, but most health insurance policies cover the fee. For those without health insurance, Cedar Diagnostics provides other options.
Durango, Cortez
Durango and Cortez residents should make appointments online on Cedar Diagnostics’ website
www.cedardx.com/index.php/covid-19/
from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays to Fridays.
Cedar Diagnostics’ Durango office is located at 450 South Camino del Rio, Suite 105. The office in Cortez is at 1011 North Mildred St.
Pagosa Springs
Pagosa Springs residents should make appointments by calling 372-0456 from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays to Fridays and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays.
No referrals or doctors’ orders are needed, and testing is open to all. No fee for tests are charged in Pagosa Springs.
Antibody testing
Anyone who suspects past exposure, infection and recovery from the virus and is not actively contagious can get antibody testing at Cedar Diagnostics.
The fee for antibody testing is $30
For more information about the COVID-19 antibody tests offered by Cedar Diagnostics go to
https://booking.appointy.com/cedardiagnostics/locations
.
For the Durango and Cortez patient service centers, make an appointment online at
https://booking.appointy.com/cedardiagnostics/locations
. For the Pagosa Springs patient service center, call 372-0456.
Fort Lewis College
FLC students and employees can go to
www.fortlewis.edu/covid19testing
to register for a free test. Registration is encouraged, but walk-ins will be queued.
Testing is offered from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays to Fridays and from 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays for FLC students and employees in the parking lot for the football stadium, Roy Dennison Memorial Field.
FLC is offering testing to certain first responders and other community partners from 7 to 8 a.m. Mondays to Fridays in the football stadium parking lot and from 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays.
SJBPH Community Testing Site
San Juan Basin Public Health provides free nasal swab testing to anyone with COVID-19 symptoms or anyone who suspects exposure to the virus. SJBPH recommends waiting five or seven days after suspected exposure before testing to avoid false negative results.
The site is provided in cooperation with Animas Surgical Hospital, Axis Health System and Mercy Regional Medical Center.
The testing site closes promptly at 4:30 p.m., so early arrival is encouraged.
Normal times and dates: 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays and Saturdays.
Expanded hours: For Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday this week, expanded hours from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. will be offered.
Location: Durango Public Library overflow parking lot, East Third Avenue and 20th Street.
Southwest Health System
Southwest Memorial Hospital, 1311 North Mildred St., Cortez, offers COVID-19 testing in a drive-thru clinic near at the EMS Building on the northwest section of the campus. Masks are required and tests are conducted while people remain in their vehicles.
The drive-thru clinic is open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The test is free with health insurance. A $5 processing fee is charged to people without health insurance.
