COVID-19 testing update from Vail Health, Colorado Mountain Medical

Vail Health and Colorado Mountain Medical last week put out the following press release updating the community on COVID-19 testing:

Beginning Monday, June 8, Eagle County residents and guests can be tested at Vail Health and Colorado Mountain Medical (CMM) for COVID-19 by emailing covidscreening@cmmhealth.org and making an appointment. Testing will be available Mon-Fri from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at the CMM Clinic at 50 Buck Creek Rd., Avon, CO and will be conducted on the north side of the building at the Vail Valley Foundation’s Magic Bus. During the weekends, testing will take place at the CMM Clinic-Vail Medical Professional Building (Sat-Sun) and Avon Urgent Care-Chapel Square (Sat-Sun), CMM Clinic – Eagle Healthcare Center (Sat) as well as the Emergency Department at Vail Health Hospital. Appointments at CMM on the weekend will require an office visit. Patients should bring a photo ID and their health insurance card. 

According to Eagle County Public Health, employers do not need to, nor should they require, negative COVID-19 test results as a condition of employment or as a prerequisite for the return to work of anyone asked to self-quarantine or self-isolate. Public Health also asks that employers not recommend testing for employees who do not have symptoms or have not been identified as a close contact of a known case by Public Health. If concerned about an exposure in the workplace or an employee that has tested positive, please call Public Health at 970-235-0187 for additional guidance.

Genetic (diagnostic) testing to determine if a person is currently sick due to COVID-19 is reserved for those individuals exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 as well as asymptomatic individuals that have had direct contact with a positive COVID-19 patient or are an employee in the healthcare or frontline services. 

Any individual exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 should be tested. Symptoms include shortness of breath, fever, dry cough, headache, body aches, ear ache, sore throat, loss of the sense of smell or taste, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. 

People experiencing extreme difficulty breathing should call 911 or visit the Emergency Department immediately.

The diagnostic test is essentially free to the patient. If a patient has insurance, the insurance company will be billed for the test and the patient should not be billed for a deductible or copay. The self-pay rate is $130-$154; however, for those who do not have insurance, the cost of the test should be waived. 

COVID-19 ANTIBODY TEST

Antibody testing continues to be offered at all CMM locations and Avon Urgent Care during normal clinic hours and is available by walk-in or appointment. It is a blood test and is used to determine if someone has been exposed to COVID-19 and developed antibodies. Patients seeking antibody testing should be asymptomatic for at least seven days. It does not identify if someone is currently infected with the virus. A positive antibody test can create a false sense of security since it is not known if this assures immunity. The antibody test costs $83 and insurance will be billed. Those with no insurance will be billed.