High demand closes Danbury test site early
DANBURY — Cars lined up for COVID-19 tests were turned away on Tuesday afternoon because high demand led organizers to run out of tests.
A police car went up nearby Wilson Street around 2:20 p.m., broadcasting “we are out of tests” to waiting vehicles. Cars cleared the street. The health department posted on Facebook around 3:40 p.m. that the site was closed for the day.
The SEMA4 site at 118 Memorial Drive was scheduled to be open between 1 to 7 p.m., but the city health department warned on Facebook two hours before the site opened that it likely would reach capacity before 7 p.m.
Cars were lined up on Wilson Street, Mountainville Avenue and South Street around 12:45 p.m. Traffic was backed up to Deer Hill Avenue. Police directed traffic near the site.
Providers said Monday they’re overwhelmed with patients seeking COVID tests. The Connecticut Institute for Communities and the Community Health Center offer testing for new and existing patients. Tests are available at pharmacies and urgent care facilities.
Danbury has been working for weeks to add more testing sites to the area and is waiting on state approval.
“This is something we continue to monitor,” said Matthew Cassavechia, the city’s emergency management director. “We want to meet the needs of our community. We are very much aware of the uptick of COVID in our community and the interest in increased testing.”
Cassavechia and the mayor hadn’t heard as of around 2:30 p.m. whether the testing site was closed.
About 700 tests are available each day at the Pat Waldron Building on Memorial Drive, Cassavechia said. Drive-thru testing is available from 1 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, as well as 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
“There is a limited amount of tests at each location,” Mayor Dean Esposito said. “I know they’ve been providing many, many tests and usually more cars show up than (they) have tests in any particular day.”
Danbury expects to distribute about 10,000 at-home rapid tests as early as Thursday on a first-come, first-served basis. The time and location are to be determined.
“We are delighted that these tests are getting out there in the community,” Cassavechia said.