Pitkin County incident management team announced Tuesday the county will establish a mobile COVID-19 testing lab. The lab will be set up in the county's incident command trailer.
Bill Linn, the public information officer for the incident management team, said the trailer is the ideal spot for the mobile testing site because the tests require a controlled environment.
"The tests require temperature control and we've had to reduce some of the variables involved in testing," Linn said.
Gabe Muething, a member of the Pitkin County incident management team, said there are still steps to be figured out before the mobile testing lab opens, but expects plans to be finalized by the end of this week.
"We want to be sure we are doing it right," Muething said. "Not at community attempts at testing have been successful and we are committed to carefully rolling out our testing program."
Though there is no official start date for the mobile testing lab, Linn said the incident management team wanted to share the information as quickly as possible to keep people informed.
"We're just being as open as we can about it," Linn said. "We have to be absolutely certain...before announcing a date."
Pitkin County purchased 1,000 COVID-19 tests from company Aytu Bioscience last week. Officials said those tests are currently being verified through a joint effort with Aspen Valley Hospital and will be used for the mobile testing site.
