San Antonio’s Community Labs to close remaining COVID-19 test sites

San Antonio-based Community Labs announced it will end COVID-19 testing at its two remaining public locations effective 6 p.m. April 29, as officials with the nonprofit cited low testing demand and stabilized COVID-19 positivity rates in the community.

According to a press release, the test sites at the Alamo Colleges district headquarters, 2222 N. Alamo St., and at Wonderland of the Americas Mall, 4522 Fredericksburg Road, will be open 8 a.m.-6 p.m. April 29.

Community Labs, which was created in response to the coronavirus outbreak, said it has processed more than 2 million samples through public COVID-19 testing from September 2020 through April 2022. The nonprofit concluded testing in local schools, colleges and universities April 4.

Community Labs officials said they have been gradually shuttering public COVID-19 test sites in recent weeks mainly because of decreased testing demand and relatively low positivity rates.

The city of San Antonio’s COVID-19 data dashboard, last updated April 26, shows the community risk level as mild.

Community Labs President Sal Webber thanked community members for their cooperation and added that Community Labs will stay around and find other ways to help serve local public health needs.

“When we began, we had no idea how long Community Labs would be needed, but we were committed to helping safely return children to the classroom to minimize learning deficits. We were happy to stand up mass public sites when called upon,” Webber said.

“Now that demand for testing has decreased and the positivity rates are the lowest we’ve seen, we’re suspending operations. We’re not completely going away, though.”