The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment will close down 48 COVID-19 testing sites on June 30 as part of a plan to gradually treat the virus more like other diseases.
The state closed 40 sites in April, citing the availability of home test kits and testing in medical offices. Public health experts have raised concerns that cases found at home aren’t being reported.
The closures come as new COVID-19 infections, the number of people hospitalized with the virus and the rate of tests coming back positive have been increasing in Colorado.
Scott Bookman, the state’s COVID-19 incident commander, said the state-run sites are processing about 2,200 tests per day. Even with those sites closed, the state will have the capacity to handle 8,000 tests per day, and the testing vendors could double the number of tests they perform in about two weeks if there’s another surge, he said.
“We feel confident in this transition, especially with the ability to surge to 17,000 tests per day should we need to,” he said in a news release. “CDPHE prioritized location, equity and site traffic in order to keep the testing sites with the most utility available to Coloradans.”
The sites that will close are:
- Antonito Town Hall
- Ascension Catholic Church, Denver
- Aurora Public Schools
- Centaurus High School, Lafayette
- Centennial Mall, Craig
- Citadel Mall, Colorado Springs
- Clayton Early Learning, Denver
- Colorado Mountain College, Breckenridge
- Colorado School of Mines, Golden
- Convenient Care Community Clinic, Alamosa
- Cripple Creek Parks and Recreation, Cripple Creek
- Crowley County Nursing Center, Ordway
- Custer County Public Health, Westcliffe
- Estes Park Museum
- Fort Lewis College, Durango
- Garfield County Public Health, Glenwood Springs
- George Washington High School, Denver
- Gilpin County Public Health, Blackhawk
- Gunnison Valley Hospital, Gunnison
- Health and Human Services Building, Rifle
- Holyoke Event Center
- Julesburg Hippodrome
- Kunsmiller Creative Arts, Denver
- La Jara Town Hall
- Lincoln Street, Fort Morgan
- NCHD Morgan Community College, Fort Morgan
- Nederland Community Center
- NJC Yuma
- Northeast Early College, Denver
- Northeastern Junior College, Sterling
- Pagosa Springs Medical Center
- Park County Public Health, Bailey
- Pueblo County Fairgrounds, Pueblo
- Rio Blanco Public Health, Meeker
- Rio Blanco County Human Services, Rangely
- Riverdale Regional Park, Brighton
- Rocky Ford Public Safety Building
- Routt County Justice Center, Steamboat Springs
- SOAR Academy, Englewood
- Southeast Colorado Hospital, Springfield
- Sykes, Sterling
- Trinidad Community Center
- Tru-Vu Drive-In Theater, Delta
- Walsenburg Train Depot
- Washington County Fairgrounds, Akron
- Weld County Southwest Service Center, Longmont
- Westwood Unidos, Denver
- Wiggins Community Church
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