Tuesday's snow prompted the city to push opening hours for three free COVID-19 testing sites from the usual 8 a.m. to noon. The sites include Denver Human Services East, Green Valley Ranch Pool and Ruby Hill Park, according to the city's website.
The list does not include Paco Sanchez Park, which has been temporarily closed for the week as the city opens the Ruby Hill Park testing site. The site opened for the first time on Monday but closed due technical issues. The state imposed new restrictions in Denver last week and other counties due to an increase in coronavirus cases.
Tony Diaz, the city's COVID-19 testing branch director, said the city considers snow, excessive heat, low temperatures, rain, hail and even tornadoes when determining opening and closing times for the testing sites. Four inches of snow will automatically prompt the sites to close.
Daiz said decisions about whether a site will open or close early are made a day before, around noon. He said the city is still figuring out whether Wednesday will see more delays.
He said the community testing sites will start to look similar to the now defunct testing site at Ball Arena, where people would drive up and get tested under a tent over the summer. The city will be getting more tents and provide heated trailers for staff.
Waiting times vary by location. Diaz said on Monday, the new Ruby Hill site had a 90-minute wait. It ended up closing early due to difficulties with registration forms and a generator that went down.
The following sites will be open Tuesday for community testing from noon to 4 p.m. These sites will be closed Thursday due to Thanksgiving and Friday because of a citywide furlough day.
- Denver Human Services East (3815 Steele St.)
- Green Valley Ranch Pool (4455 Jebel St.)
- Ruby Hill Park (1380 W Florida Ave.)
Additionally, the following community testing sites will be open from 1 to 5 p.m.
- Re:Vision (3800 Morrison Rd.)
- Clínica Tepeyac, at Globeville Community Church (5039 Lincoln St.)
