{"id":88781,"date":"2020-05-04T05:57:08","date_gmt":"2020-05-04T11:57:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/more-than-300-people-tested-for-covid-19-at-la-plata-county-fairgrounds\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T04:24:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T10:24:20","slug":"more-than-300-people-tested-for-covid-19-at-la-plata-county-fairgrounds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/more-than-300-people-tested-for-covid-19-at-la-plata-county-fairgrounds\/","title":{"rendered":"More than 300 people tested for COVID-19 at La Plata County Fairgrounds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=ae5d45d3-4b28-409d-a106-82ce6e991e7b&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1178\" alt=\"Amber Manwaring, a tech consultant, with Cedar Diagnostics, draws blood from Anne DiZenzo on Saturday at the La Plata County Fairgrounds Exhibit Building. Cedar Diagnostics\u2019 Durango lab tested about 330 people at the temporary testing site on Saturday. The day of tests went so smoothly, Cedar Diagnostics is considering holding a second community testing day.\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">Amber Manwaring, a tech consultant, with Cedar Diagnostics, draws blood from Anne DiZenzo on Saturday at the La Plata County Fairgrounds Exhibit Building. Cedar Diagnostics\u2019 Durango lab tested about 330 people at the temporary testing site on Saturday. The day of tests went so smoothly, Cedar Diagnostics is considering holding a second community testing day.<\/span><span class=\"credit\">Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>Trisha Rickey was worried she might have been exposed to COVID-19 when her son came down with a severe sore throat, a high fever and a cough in March.<\/p>\n<p>Anne DiZenzo was simply curious and thinks the more people in Durango who can be tested, the better information we\u2019ll have as a community in making plans to reduce the viral spread.<\/p>\n<p>Both Rickey and DiZenzo fulfilled their desires to be tested for COVID-19 Saturday when they were among some 330 people tested for antibodies at a community testing event held by Cedar Diagnostics at the La Plata County Fairgrounds.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video wp-block-embed-youtube naviga-video-embed\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/k9d4MWhFGKY\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThe biggest thing I noticed was just how well the community did. They scheduled online. For the most part, everybody adhered to their appointment times. People showed up on time. They kept a nice safe distance apart from one another. With that many people, it could always go another way and maybe not be that smooth,\u201d said Danny Flynt, business development manager for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cedardx.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cedar Diagnostics<\/a> in Durango.<\/p>\n<p>Three hundred and twenty-four people scheduled appointments. They each had 4.5 milliliters of blood drawn for the test.<\/p>\n<p>Several other people who did not have appointments also dropped by the Exhibit Hall to have tests, and they too were able to be tested. Flynt said Cedar Diagnostics is considering having a second community testing day.<\/p>\n<p>Cedar Diagnostics is using an antibodies test developed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.abbott.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Abbott Laboratories<\/a>, and the tests are now becoming more widespread. People who want to be tested can schedule an appointment <a href=\"https:\/\/booking.appointy.com\/cedardiagnostics\/locations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">online<\/a> to be tested at firm\u2019s testing sites at 450 South Camino del Rio, Suite 105, in Durango and at 1011 N. Mildred Road in Cortez. In Pagosa Springs, people can call (970) 372-0456.<\/p>\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=16a0642b-b75e-448f-9008-2754cee6e4a9&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" alt=\"Vanessa Stefanik, lab supervisor, with Cedar Diagnostics in Durango, checks on Trisha Rickey. Rickey said her son got sick in March with symptoms similar to the flu and COVID-19, and she wanted to be checked for antibodies to the novel coronavirus.\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">Vanessa Stefanik, lab supervisor, with Cedar Diagnostics in Durango, checks on Trisha Rickey. Rickey said her son got sick in March with symptoms similar to the flu and COVID-19, and she wanted to be checked for antibodies to the novel coronavirus.<\/span><span class=\"credit\">Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>A test will cost $30, but Flynt said for those who are in a vulnerable group or suspect they have been exposed to COVID-19, the test is covered by most medical insurance with a doctor\u2019s order.<\/p>\n<p>Flynt said several people on Saturday made donations to cover tests for people who can\u2019t afford the COVID-19 antibody test, and he added Cedar Diagnostics will work with people who can\u2019t afford the COVID-19 test or any other lab work.<\/p>\n<p>The day started out at 7 a.m. with 10 Cedar Diagnostics staff members who volunteered for the testing day setting up at the Exhibit Hall. Cedar Diagnostics employees set up 10 stations to draw blood and had no fewer than seven stations in operation throughout the day, which ended at 4 p.m.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were going to take a break for lunch, but we got some extra staff members who were able to help, and we could work through lunch. Someone who came through and had their blood done, they actually \u2013 without even letting us know \u2013 they ordered lunch. They fed us on their own. They paid for it. And they tipped. So the team, everybody, had plenty to eat. It was nice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=772fad59-882d-4909-8c0a-d68bf059ef40&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" alt=\"Cedar Diagnostics tested at least 330 people for the presence of COVID-19 antibodies on Saturday at the La Plata County Fairgrounds Exhibit Building.\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">Cedar Diagnostics tested at least 330 people for the presence of COVID-19 antibodies on Saturday at the La Plata County Fairgrounds Exhibit Building.<\/span><span class=\"credit\">Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>Results from the tests are expected to be back next week, and Flynt said Cedar Diagnostics will inform San Juan Basin Public Health if anyone tested positive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s going to take events like Saturday and ongoing participation from providers and a willingness from the community to get tested for us to be able to get data to really get an idea of how things are going here in our community,\u201d Flynt said.<\/p>\n<p>DiZenzo, 56, was told she\u2019d have results by Thursday or Friday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverything went pretty quickly and there\u2019s a quick turnaround, when you\u2019ll get results. It\u2019s relatively inexpensive, so I thought: We\u2019ll why not? You might as well get tested.<\/p>\n<p>Rickey said when her son got sick in March she half-jokingly suggested he get a COVID-19 test, but no COVID-19 tests were then available.<\/p>\n<p>Now that more tests are available, she suggests everyone get tested.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel like it\u2019s important for our community to understand how widespread this is so that we have a sense of what\u2019s going on in our community. I think the lack of testing initially, both for the virus and for who\u2019s recovered, makes it pretty difficult for anything to get back to normal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em class=\"mwc_shirttail\"><a href=\"mailto:parmijo@durangoherald.com\">parmijo@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Diagnostics provides $30 test for presence of viral antibodies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":88782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[685,28,2035,2527,29,668,316],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-88781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-coronavirus-covid-19","tag-headlines","tag-la-plata-county-fairgrounds","tag-medical-service","tag-newsletter","tag-public-health","tag-video"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88781"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88791,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88781\/revisions\/88791"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88781"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=88781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}