Norwalk COVID-19 Test Site Reached Capacity Before Start Time Sunday Morning

According to a Facebook post from the Norwalk Police Department, a free COVID-19 test site in Norwalk reached capacity before 9 AM Sunday (1/2/22).

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As COVID numbers surge with Omicron variant, so does the need for testing and that was evident in Norwalk on Sunday. The City of Norwalk has made COVID testing available 7 days a week at Veteran's Park. The weekday hours are listed on the city website as 2 PM - 7 PM and the weekend hours as 9 AM-2 PM.

Sunday morning (1/2/22), the line at Veteran's Park was so full that the Norwalk P.D. had to deem the event at full capacity before the testing was scheduled to begin. This was the the post local police shared at 8:49 AM.

The post was tagged with the following headline:

"01/02/22 at 8:49am- COVID-19 Testing at Veteran’s Park is at capacity for the day and is closed."

The website warned of the demand and the possibility of early closings noting:

"PLEASE NOTE THERE IS AN EXTREMELY HIGH DEMAND FOR TESTING AND LIMITED SUPPLIES. THOSE SEEKING A TEST SHOULD BE EXPECTED TO WAIT. TESTING MAY CLOSE EARLY." 

No, my Caps Lock was not stuck, they posted that warning in all caps, in a bold font and underlined. They could have posted it in Wingdings and it would not matter, we all know from experience how these testing sites work now. Whenever numbers surge and tests are made available, people will do just about anything to get tested right away.

That brings me to a burning question I have, why would people who are asymptomatic go get tested during a time period when numbers are on the rise? The Norwalk website says that people "with or without" symptoms can be tested, which means they frequently get that question, which means people who don't have symptoms are doing this.

This is something I've never understood about COVID-19 and how people behave around it. Why would you clog up a line, and slow down testing for people who are obviously feeling ill? Why would you intentionally go to what you know will be an absurd line, filled with people who likely have COVID? These are questions I'll never get sufficient answers to, so I don't know why I bother.

As I write this, it's a rainy Sunday morning and I'm sitting in my kitchen in Danbury, knowing that the Hat City has it's own COVID test distribution event at WestConn University's midtown campus starting in the afternoon (1/2/22). I'm sure Danbury will experience similar results to Norwalk, and will reach capacity soon after opening so I'll be avoiding White Street all day.

I'll be sure to update this article with results if Danbury has a notable turnout.

For information about testing in your area check out the State Contracted testing website or the full CT website list.

Panic is a dirty bird that has not served us well during this pandemic, that is just one dude's opinion and his name is me.