Drive-up COVID-19 testing at the Heart of Longmont parking lot, 350 11th Ave., will end soon as testing accelerates and moves back to the Boulder County Fairgrounds.
The Fairgrounds testing site opened Nov. 9, 2020 but because the volume of tests slowed during this summer and the Fairgrounds started hosting events, Boulder County Public Health moved testing to the Heart of Longmont, said BCPH spokesman Shawn Hollister via email.
“Through the generosity of the Heart of Longmont, we were able to move there,” Hollister said.
With the increase of testing expected to rise as schools and businesses deal with the Delta variant, the county needs more space than is available at the Heart of Longmont. The Fairgrounds can best handle the hike in testing traffic and testing will commence there within the next two weeks, Hollister said.
The Heart of Longmont site is one of three current COVID testing sites that offer tests for free, according to a Boulder County news release.
The other two sites are the Stazio Ball Fields, 2445 Stazio Drive in Boulder and Nederland Community Center, 750 Highway 72 N., in Nederland.
The Heart of Longmont site averaged 382 visits from Sept. 1 through Sept. 13 with the average wait time of three minutes, according to Boulder County Public Health.
On a recent morning, Ken Rasmussen helped usher cars through the testing drive-thru at Heart of Longmont. Rasmussen works for Mako Medical which manages the testing sites for Boulder County.
Car and truck passengers leaned back and allowed Rasmussen and other Mako workers to perform the nose swab test.
“In all, the test takes about 25 seconds,” Rasmussen said. “It’s pretty quick and easy.”
Mako Medical personnel are at the Longmont site from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week. “We are here everyday to get as much testing done as possible,” Rasmussen said.
The seven-day schedule is needed as more people line up to get tested, he said. “We are expecting a lot of growth over the next few weeks, everybody is needing a test.”
Anyone who has been exposed to COVID-19 should get tested. People who are not fully vaccinated should seek testing 5-7 days after an exposure or 3-to-5 days for those that are fully vaccinated, according to the Boulder County news release.
People should also get tested if experiencing symptoms, the news release states.
“Even though symptoms may not be severe - you may not have none at all - it is still possible to spread COVID-19. If you have any doubt, we urge you to go and get tested. Tests are free, easy to access and you will get the results quickly,” said Chris Campbell, Boulder County Public Health Emergency Manager, in the news release.
