Pueblo’s only COVID-19 testing site set to close due to decreasing demand and funding
PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- Pueblo's only COVID-19 testing site is set to close its doors after more than two years of operation.
The county said the closure is due to a lack of demand and funding, adding that the site has been a valuable resource for southern Colorado but people aren't using it like they used to.
COVID-19 cases across the state have been holding fairly steady for the past couple of months. We're currently sitting at an average of 11 cases per 100,000 people. While that does not include home tests where people fail to disclose their status, we are still nowhere near the omicron peak earlier in 2022.
According to the Colorado Department of Health, testing sites throughout the state are now serving only six percent of what they're capable of.
"We are starting to transition into more of a normal routine communicable disease model," said Alicia Solise with the Pueblo Department of Health.
The State of Colorado said its action plan is now fitting an "endemic" type of response and changes are being made like shutting down the state COVID-19 vaccine hotline. The Department of Health said the call center is receiving only two percent of the number of calls they received in the first six weeks of the hotline's existence, and only 5-10 percent of the weekly call volume they saw in the fall and winter of 2021.
The state and county public health departments say as they are transitioning into a more endemic-like response, they are still monitoring the state of COVID-19 and will respond as needed.
