ROSWELL, N.M. (KRQE) – The state is ramping up testing as COVID-19 cases skyrocket; One of the hardest-hit areas is southeast New Mexico, and people who think they might have COVID, waited in line for hours in Roswell to get a test.
There are five places in Roswell to get COVID-19 testing done. Residents are coming out in big numbers to see if they have it. Monday morning, the line at the Pathology Consultants of New Mexico on North Richardson had hundreds of cars in line.
“Oh yeah, we need bigger facilities, cause you taking up my streets with these lines,” said Jasia Reese who was in line.
KRQE News 13 spoke with people who were waiting in line for five hours. Meanwhile, neighbors say all the cars on the small streets around the clinic are not safe and it was blocking roads and driveways. They also say they have never seen it this busy.
“Well, I’ve seen that the last couple days [sic] I have never seen the lines backed up, back to back, block to block like this. I’ve only seen it was in a few blocks, or with a two-block radius of cars backed up,” Jackie Blackman who lives near the testing site.
When asked if people knew there were other testing locations in Roswell, most said they thought the testing location on North Richardson was the only one. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham stressed last week that once someone gets a test they need to quarantine until they get results; A number of people at the testing site did not know that. The state says that is the reason for the spike in positive COVID-19 numbers.
