DANBURY — Connecticut Institute For Communities, Inc (CIFC) has announced its new COVID-19 testing facility adjacent to the Greater Danbury Community Health Center (GDCHC) is open for area residents including those from Newtown.

The facility offers testing to everyone in the community, with a focus on safety and a “minimal-contact” environment. Located at 12 Boughton Street at CIFC’s Danbury Community Center, diagonally across the street from the prior site, the new site will provide indoor accommodations for testing personnel to continue their work through the wintry months.

Testing began at 12 Boughton Street on December 28. No further testing is happening at the CIFC headquarters at 120 Main Street.

Beginning January 4 hours are Mondays, 8:30-11:30 am; Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 1-4 pm; Fridays, 8:30-11:30 am (closed New Year’s Day); and Saturdays, beginning January 9, from 9 am-noon.

“With the opening of the new testing site, we are also glad to be able to offer expanded testing hours when they are needed most. The site offers services for both walk-up and drive-through testing, and will support video check-in as of early January, which will allow much of the staff to work indoors during the winter,” said James H. Maloney, JD, president and CEO of CIFC.

The CDC has repeatedly said risk of transmission is lower outdoors, but even outdoor gatherings present safety challenges. A major goal with the new facility, according to Shinu Simon, MS, GDCHC Administrative Director, is to serve as many people as possible, as safely and comfortably as possible.

That means avoiding complexity and minimizing wait times, Simon said.

“Everyone already knows how to use a drive-through,” Simon added. “We wanted to design something that would let us safely meet our patients where they are. We designed this new testing site to provide even better services for our communities, as well as our staff.

“Our COVID team — nothing fazes them — they’ve worked through rains when they started in late April, changing socks all day because they were getting drenched. Now, they work through the cold. We want to take care of our staff and our patients, while making testing accessible even with the high testing volumes we’re seeing,” Simon added. “Thanks to the new site, a team of 20 can work together — indoors, with heat — while still maintaining safety.”

Patients will be able to enter the facility from Wooster Street, register via the video system, drive into the semi-enclosed testing tent, and be swabbed from their cars before exiting onto Boughton Street. Walk-ups will register through the video system on the side of the building at Boughton Street before heading to the testing tent.

As of January 4, Thursdays will be available by reservation to local employers, shelters, and others, whenever testing may be needed for large groups.

For more information, patients can find a regularly updated testing schedule on the CIFC website at ct-institute.org/covid-19-testing, or call 203-456-1413. All testing is free, and no appointment is needed.