Another round of drive-thru testing for the coronavirus on select individuals is scheduled for Wednesday in Durango, according to San Juan Basin Public Health.
SJBPH will run limited testing from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the drive-thru testing site at the La Plata County Fairgrounds.
The facility is not open for all members of the public. Instead, testing will be focused on high-risk individuals, such as those in health care, first responders, seniors who have underlying health issues and those with a doctor’s order. And people must be showing COVID-19 symptoms, such as fever, cough and shortness of breath.
The limited testing, health officials say, will help efforts to understand what segments of the population the virus is affecting, a preferred alternative in light of the lack of testing kits to perform widespread tests.
SJPPH opened the drive-thru site Friday and Saturday, testing about 70 people. The health department plans to use a remaining 30 tests Wednesday. It’s unknown when results will arrive, health officials say, because of the backlog at processing labs.
La Plata County had its first confirmed case of coronavirus announced on Monday, though health officials believe the disease is in the community and spreading, and the lack of confirmed cases is because of a shortage of test kits.
People who meet the criteria are asked to call 385-8700 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. to schedule a testing time for Wednesday.