A new drive-up lab where people can get tested for COVID-19 will open at the Denver Coliseum in Elyria Swansea on Saturday, public health officials announced.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said the location, at 4600 Humboldt St., is safer and offers better logistics than the current lab site in Lowry. The lab will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will only be able to serve the first 100 to 150 people in line. Colorado National Guard personnel will staff the site.
The mobile lab will move to other parts of the state after Saturday so officials can analyze where and how the virus is spreading. But this drive-up lab is not the only way to get tested.
"Because Colorado now has the capacity for private labs to conduct testing, CDPHE encourages anyone who is symptomatic or who believes they may have been exposed to COVID-19 to call or email their physician first for guidance, obtain a doctor's order for testing, and request information about private providers where you can get tested," CDPHE said in a statement. "Always call first before reporting to a health care facility for testing."
The state tested more than 650 people in two days at the Lowry site in two days this week, resulting to 10 positive cases with many more still pending. Those two days of testing helped confirm community spread in the Denver area, meaning people caught the disease from an unknown source.
More advice from CDPHE:
- If you have a medical emergency, call 911 and do not visit the testing site. If you have severe respiratory symptoms, especially shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, tell the dispatcher about your symptoms. Do not wait for a COVID-19 test to call 911.
- If you are ill or suspect that you were exposed, but are not able to be immediately tested, stay home, self-isolate, and contact your physician.
