Health & Fitness
City To Open Coronavirus Testing Site In E Harlem, De Blasio Says
The East Harlem site is one of twelve new testing sites to be opened as New York City attempts to ramp up capacity.
EAST HARLEM, NY — A new coronavirus testing site will open in East Harlem this month as part of an effort to double the city's testing capacity as city officials plan for the eventual relaxation of social distancing measures, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday.
The new East Harlem site — it's exact location was not revealed Tuesday — will be one of 10 new testing facilities opening the week of May 25. The new sites will open at NYC Health + Hospitals facilities. East Harlem is home to three Health + Hospitals facilities: Metropolitan Hospital, the Henry J. Carter nursing facility and La Clinica del Barrio.
New testing sites opening this month will double the city's testing capacity, de Blasio announced Tuesday. The city is currently conducting about 14,000 tests per day.
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"I want to see us in the months ahead, get to 50,000 tests a day, and then ideally go beyond that. The criteria for who gets tested will keep evolving as more and more testing becomes available, and we'll have more to say on that in the coming days, but it stands to reason. As we reach deeper and deeper into the city, we want more and more people to participate," de Blasio said during Tuesday's press briefing.
NYC Health + Hospitals currently operates walk-in coronavirus testing sites in the neighborhood at Harlem Hospital and the Sydenham Clinic in Central Harlem. Three Central Harlem churches are also set to be converted into temporary testing facilities this month.
Find out what's happening in Harlemfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
East Harlem has been hit hard by New York City's coronavirus outbreak. The 10029 zip code, which spans the southern half of the neighborhood, has the largest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Manhattan, according to city data as of Tuesday. Both the 10029 zip codes and 10035 zip codes, which includes the northern half of East Harlem and Randalls and Wards islands, share the highest rate of positive coronavirus tests in Manhattan, according to city data.
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