DENVER — The City of Denver said Saturday that it will temporarily close its COVID-19 testing site at Paco Sanchez Park, after high demand and traffic congestion created safety concerns there last week.
The closure will start Monday and go through Nov. 29 so that the city can shift its resources to open a new testing site at Ruby Hill Park, located at 1200 W. Florida Ave.
The new site is intended to help alleviate the congestion at Paco Sanchez Park, according to the city Department of Public Health and Environment (DPHE).
After the larger Pepsi Center testing site closed at the end of September, the city opened community-based testing sites at Paco Sanchez Park and Green Valley Ranch Pool. The city added a third site Nov. 3 at Denver Human Services at 3815 Steele St.
The Green Valley Ranch Pool and Denver Human Services sites will continue regular operations next week, in addition to the new Ruby Hill site, the city says. Hours of operation are from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. More information can be found here.
But the smaller community testing sites were not built for the demand the city is currently seeing. The Paco Sanchez site was closed Tuesday due to traffic and safety concerns, and DPHE suggested anyone who needed to get tested should to an alternate location.
“It doesn’t have the infrastructure to handle that kind of volume,” said Tony Diaz, a COVID-19 testing branch director for the city and county of Denver, earlier this month. “It’s not necessarily intended to handle 900 cars a day.”
The community sites are intended for those who are uninsured or underinsured, and those who have insurance should see their doctor or go to an urgent care facility for testing, DPHE says.
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