Forest Hills Locals Call For Nearby Testing Sites As COVID Surges

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — As the highly contagious omicron variant spreads through New York City, residents in Forest Hills are decrying what they say is a lack of free, local testing options despite an uptick in COVID cases.

Earlier this month, as the citywide COVID positivity rate started to rise amid what has become an exponential, omicron-induced wave, Mayor Bill de Blasio promised to bring new city-run, pop-up testing sites, and brick and mortar locations, to New York City.

While the Mayor has made good on this promise, bringing new testing sites to citywide locations, neighbors in Forest Hills have taken to social media to lament what they see as a notable absence of city-run sites in the area.

"Still none in Forest Hills or Rego Park," commented one local under a thread showing the list of free, PCR and rapid testing sites that the city is operating during the week of Dec. 27th.

On another thread, with over 50 comments, residents reported paying anywhere from tens to hundreds of dollars for rapid, PCR results.

Others said they had good experiences with local testing sites, some of which offer free or low-cost options, but appointments at these spots are hard to come by — the next available appointment at Forest Urgent Care, for instance, is Jan. 31st.

Queens officials have joined the push, too, advocating for more testing sites in Central Queens, especially in neighborhoods that have the borough's highest COVID rates.

While COVID rates in Forest Hills reached an all-time high last week of 16.39 percent, Patch reported, the percentage of tests coming back positive in the neighborhood remains lower than the borough wide rate, which stands at 20.78 percent.

The neighborhood's new City Council Member, Lynn Schulman, who ran on a health-focused platform, told Patch that testing is the "key" to New Yorkers' wellbeing and the city's ongoing pandemic recovery.

Schulman, who brought a COVID pop-up site to the neighborhood before Christmas alongside Congresswoman Grace Meng, agreed that testing sites are needed in her district, including in Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Rego Park, and Richmond Hill.

"I am working with my elected colleagues to provide more free testing options as quickly as possible," she told Patch in a statement.

To find a place to get tested for COVID-19, use the city's official map or visit a walk-in Health + Hospitals site (which includes some nearby locations in Woodhaven). To get vaccinated or boosted, visit vaccinefinder.nyc.gov.