Hundreds of El Pasoans wait hours for virus tests due to snafu

EL PASO, Texas -- Hundreds were forced to wait in line for eight hours and hundreds others were turned away for Covid-19 testing at two test sites in El Paso Thursday afternoon.

On the east side at least 150 to 200 cars were turned away as the Marty Robins Recreational Center reached capacity, while a similar scene unfolded on the west side at the Don Haskins Recreational Center.

“It's too hot, I have no gas, I have two girls and my husband. We have been waiting and the line is not moving," said a frustrated resident who'd been waiting for hours after arriving at the Marty Robbins site about 6 a.m.

Another resident said she got there at 5 a.m. and still had to wait upwards of ten hours to get tested. She told ABC-7 she saw the Texas Military Department begin to set testing up before they abruptly left.

“The military people set up, but apparently there was a miscommunication. They were not supposed to be running the show. These other people were and they didn't show up until almost eleven o'clock. The supplies didn’t get here until 11:45 and they had everyone wanting in the heat, not giving us an explanation,” the woman said.

What she saw is what officials are also calling a miscommunication, as the Texas Military Department's testing contract expired on Wednesday. The state of Texas partnered with another state run contractor to run these tests; however the new contractor didn't show up Thursday until more than two-hours after tests were scheduled to begin.

The line of cars at one point spilled over onto Vista Del Sol, heading in the direction of George Dieter. Many of those folks in line never made it to get tested as police cut off the line early in the afternoon.

City Rep. Henry Rivera told ABC-7 that he believes the solution is getting the city involved in testing. He would like to extended testing sites, and have the city run them, not the state.

“I put this item on the (City Council) agenda with the support of Rep. Svarzbein and we feel we need to increase these tests sites. They ought to be city run so we don’t run into these problems," Rivera said.

It remains unclear how much support Rivera's proposal has among his fellow City Council members.