Rustye Barzoni Covington, from the City of Las Vegas Parks and Recreation department, administers a COVID-19 self-test at the new Cashman Center testing facility, Mon. Aug 3, 2020.
Monday, Aug. 3, 2020 | 2:25 p.m.
Three city of Las Vegas employees and a county commissioner took a coronavirus test on camera today to demonstrate how the process will be conducted at a new testing site.
The site opens Tuesday at the Cashman Center in downtown Las Vegas to replace a drive-thru site at Texas Station. The site at 850 Las Vegas Blvd. North will be open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.
Clark County, University Medical Center and the Nevada National Guard are operating the site in partnership with the city of Las Vegas, which owns Cashman Center.
At a news conference today, Clark County Commission Vice Chairman Lawrence Weekly and city employees Jasmine Freeman, Rustye Barzoni Covington and Nathanael Carlson volunteered to demonstrate the test. Patients swab their own noses and the samples are sent to a lab for analysis.
None of the volunteers had symptoms and were not exposed to anyone with coronavirus.
“I was nervous because I didn’t know if it would be painful and if I was going to do it effectively,” said Freeman, who works at the city’s Office of Cultural Affairs.
Joseph Virtuoso, a county firefighter who managed the Texas Station site and will oversee the new site, said staffers “look forward to making this as comforting and as safe of an environment as we can here at Cashman.”
He said testing will be streamlined. “We want to make this testing process a part of your day, not your whole day,” he said.
The site will have separate areas for people with symptoms and those without, as well as lines for those who registered on line and those who did not. Staff members will help guide patients, who must wear masks, through collecting the nasal swab from a distance.
City Council members Cedric Crear, whose ward includes Cashman Center, and Olivia Diaz also attended today’s news conference.
"The major tools we have at our disposal (to combat the virus) are testing and tracing," Crear said.
UMC infectious disease physician, Luis Medina-Garcia said the virus is not under control yet, “so we need to continue our effort to do our part until there is a vaccine and effective treatment is available.”
People can make test appointments through UMC’s website or by calling 702-383-2619. Due to increased demand for testing, appointments are recommended.
