Rhode Island casino now a Coronavirus test venue

Twin River Casino has been turned into a Covid-19 testing facility with more than 1,000 tests taking place each day.

US.- A closed casino in Rhode Island is being used as a makeshift Coronavirus testing venue to help combat the further spread of the deadly virus.

Gov. Gina Raimondo announced on Monday that Twin River Casino in Lincoln, RI would be used as a place for Covid-19 testing.

The venue has been transformed into a drive-thru testing facility, with an estimated capacity of 1,000 per day.

Raimondo said in a press release: “Today marks a giant leap forward in our efforts to combat the virus.”

“Thanks to the partnership and generosity of CVS Health, we will be able to double our testing capacity and provide on-the-spot results to thousands of Rhode Islanders each day.

“Making testing rapid and readily available is the key to slowly reopening our economy, and today we are one step closer to that goal.”

CVS will be running the site and implementing tests. Rhode Islanders will not need a doctor referral, but will need to make an appointment online in advance and answer a few questions to check their eligibility.

Raimondo also announced on Tuesday (April 7th) that she would extend her executive order maintaining the closure of all public recreation and entertainment businesses — which includes casinos — until May 8th at the earliest.

That means the state’s two casinos will remain closed for another month.

Twin River reported a strong year for revenue in 2019, but it remains to be seen how the Coronavirus outbreak and the new measures has impacted its revenue in 2020.