New Rapid Coronavirus Testing Site Opens In Kew Gardens Hills

KEW GARDENS HILLS, QUEENS — The Kew Gardens Hills public library has been converted into a rapid COVID-19 testing site.

The free tests will be available every day from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Nov. 1, according to a news release from the Queens Public Library.

The temporary site, which opened Thursday, is part of the city's efforts to increase testing and curb the spread of the virus in regions where cases have been rising.

Those hotspots include a swath of Central Queens, where the state enacted new shutdown rules after some neighborhoods saw what city health officials called an "alarming" increase in cases.

In the ZIP codes 11415 and 11367, more than 3 percent of coronavirus tests were coming back positive as of last week, according to the most recently available NYC Department of Health data.

I'm at @QPLNYC Kew Gardens Hills to urge everyone to get tested for #coronavirus and help us get out of the #redzone and beat back a #secondwave. It's free; it's quick; it's essential. pic.twitter.com/mUBTrEELO4
— (((Rory Lancman))) (@RoryLancman) October 15, 2020

Library branches in Kew Gardens Hills, Rego Park and Forest Hills were closed earlier this month in response to heightened concerns about the spread of the coronavirus in Central Queens.

The three locations had previously reopened for pickups of reading materials.