Getting tested helps slow the spread of COVID-19. It’s easy to get a free, fast, and safe COVID-19 test.
If you feel sick or have symptoms of COVID-19, it is important to get tested. At-home tests are reliable, however if your at-home test is negative and you're still experiencing symptoms, you should get a test at a healthcare provider.
The City and County of Denver partnered with the State of Colorado to distribute BinaxNOW over-the-counter tests at City and County of Denver Recreation Centers. View testing instructions here(PDF, 166KB).
Appointments are required at all pharmacy testing locations. Each pharmacy is offering testing at multiple locations.
CVS Pharmacy - Register here
Health Mart - Register here
Walgreens - Register here
Quest Diagnostic - Register here
Denver residents can use the federal Test to Treat program to seek antiviral treatment for COVID-19. In this program, people can get tested for COVID-19, get a prescription for treatment from a health care provider (if appropriate) and have their prescription filled. People who receive COVID-19 test results through at-home tests or another testing site can also use a Test to Treat location to receive a prescription for oral antivirals.
What is Contact Tracing?
Contact tracing is an effort where health workers identify sources of infection and inform others who've come in contact with such sources. Coupled with rigorous testing, contact tracing can counteract potential rising waves in infectious diseases. Contact tracing is part of the overall function of case management in public health.
There are three main components to case management:
- Interviews: Trained staff interview people who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 to determine who they may have been in close contact with during the time they were considered to have been infectious.
- Contact tracing: Staff then warns these individuals, or contacts, of their potential exposure as quickly and sensitively as possible. In order to protect patient privacy, contacts are only informed that they may have been exposed to an individual with the infection. They are not told the identity of the person who may have exposed them. They are offered resources and support.
- Contain: People who have had contact with a COVID-19 positive patient are provided with education, information, and support to understand their risk, what they should do to separate themselves from others, how to monitor themselves for illness, and the possibility that they could spread the infection to others even if they themselves do not feel ill. If a contact becomes symptomatic, the local public health department can be contacted to assist them in getting tested. If the contact tests positive for COVID-19, their recent contacts will be traced and informed, too.
It is very important that residents help the health workers by answering the phone. Health workers will not ask any private questions about finances or social security numbers.
The process continues until everyone who has been exposed is isolated from others to reduce virus transmission. Contact tracing, coupled with rigorous testing, can counteract a potential second wave and prevent cases from spiking again.
Denver Department of Public Health & Environment is not currently hiring or soliciting volunteers for Contact Tracing, as we are managing with internal and partner resources. If DDPHE does begin seeking volunteers or hiring staff for Contact Tracing, we will post a link on this page. Please check back in the future, and we appreciate all of the offers of support we have received thus far!
Is Denver working with other cities?
Since COVID-19 does not stop at jurisdictional boundaries, Denver will work with other regional local public health agencies to continue coordinating case investigations and to improve contact tracing. The partnership will help to ensure contact tracing will be complete and thorough.