Dear Editor,

A sign of the gross incompetence in Covid testing across the U.S. is the fact that, six months after the pandemic first showed its dangers, there still is no practical Covid testing available in Nederland. Why?

The closest Covid test site is in Gunbarrel, currently about a two-hour drive from here.

Yet offering local Covid testing itself is not hard.

It does take initiative and thoughtfulness. But initiative and thoughtfulness are exactly what we should expect from our government, local and national.

To offer regular Covid testing on a daily basis in Nederland would require one trained technician. She would wear protective gear and offer from-your-car testing for, say, one hour per day, perhaps at noon on weekdays.

She would liaison with Boulder Community Hospital to exchange information and to receive via UPS a new daily supply of PCR test kits. She would send the performed tests back to Boulder Community via the same UPS route each day.

She could test ten to fifteen people in her one hour of onsite work. The testing station would be located in the parking lot of the Nederland Community Center. As with Boulder Community Hospital, no charge would be required for the test.

On her second hour of work each day the technician (who does not have to be a registered nurse) would call the people whose test results have come back, about 2-4 days after the swab is taken.

Would someone, anyone, in the town government of Nederland finally take responsibility and show real interest in implementing this crucial program? It seems inexcusable at this point to not do so.

If logistics support is needed at the volunteer level to help start this testing, I and others are available to help.

Our federal government has obviously failed us, but that doesn’t mean that our local government must also.

Larry Tasaday
Eldora