Rich Connecticut NIMBYs Don't Want Your Filthy Coronavirus Tests Near Them

Their complaints shut down an important pandemic-fighting tool. Fortunately, a substitute plan has been found.

One of the biggest problems the United States has faced in fighting the coronavirus has been a failure to test wide swaths of citizens who may have been exposed. We're just now starting to catch up. But residents of one extremely rich New England town would prefer that we not catch up in their backyard.

Darien, Connecticut, is one of the wealthiest cities in the United States, with a median household income of $208,000 across a population of about 21,000. There are multiple yacht clubs there, and massive mansions worth millions of dollars.

The town announced this week that Murphy Medical Associates would offer drive-through coronavirus testing in a parking lot at Darien's town hall. While you didn't need to be a resident of Darien to get tested there, you did need to be directed there by a doctor after an online screening process. If a doctor didn't direct you to go there to get tested, they would not test you.

Those restrictions weren't enough for the residents. Earlier today the Darien Times reported that the drive-through testing had been cancelled because neighbors complained that the testing was too close to their homes.

Based on the information we have, this testing would have been no danger to these neighbors. Without the testing, meanwhile, people in Darien would have to go to other towns for testing: Bridgeport, New London, New Haven, or Greenwich.

Fortunately, another plan was hammered out this afternoon. The Darien Times reports that these drive-through screenings will be available Mondays at the local high school. You'll still need a doctor's orders to actually get tested. A happy ending, or at least a happy-ish ending. Only Mondays?