Officials are planning to close the Grand Lake Center to the general public at 5 p.m. Sunday as they look at converting it into a drive-thru testing facility for the coronavirus.
People with Middle Park Health, Grand Lake Fire and the town of Grand Lake all are working together to turn the center into a drive-thru testing facility for the novel coronavirus, according to a Friday news release.
The release says officials are still hammering out the logistics, but they expect to have a testing site up and running by Tuesday. More details should be released in the coming days. While attention has turned to the Grand Lake Center, county officials say that Middle Park Health is considering other sites as well.
No confirmed cases of the coronavirus have yet been reported in Grand County, but the number of presumptive positive cases in Colorado has grown steadily over the last week.
Local officials are emphasizing that coronavirus tests, once a site is ready to do the tests, will only be administered with a doctor’s referral, and people should not drive to Grand Lake Center seeking tests without first consulting a physician.
“If you are sick and suspect you are contagious with coronavirus, please stay at home except to seek medical care,” states the news release issued by Middle Park Health. “If you feel you need to seek medical care, please call the facility in which you are seeking care to discuss appropriate actions before arriving. If you have an emergency, please call 911.”
One business, Sarah Chabot Massage, currently operates out of the Grand Lake Center on a lease with the town, and Chabot would be displaced if the center becomes a testing site.
Grand Lake Town Manager John Crone said that the Grand Lake Board of Trustees are planning an emergency board meeting for Monday, in which he expects the town will declare a state of disaster.
Crone said such a designation is more related to funding than anything else, and it would aid Chabot’s efforts to recover money to offset her business losses, while possibly allowing the town access to some additional funding as well.