NYC To Open 5 New Coronavirus Testing Sites, Mayor Says

NEW YORK CITY — The city aims to open a new testing center in each borough by the end of this week, an effort to expand testing for the new coronavirus in communities that have been hit hardest by the outbreak, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sunday.

The five new testing centers will be located at NYC Health + Hospitals sites and will prioritize those who are most vulnerable, though city officials haven't detailed how the system will work.

The selected sites are: East New York in Brooklyn, Morrisania in The Bronx, Harlem in Manhattan, Jamaica in Queens and Clifton in Staten Island.

"This will be targeted testing in the communities with the greatest needs," de Blasio said in a Sunday news conference. "This virus is not the great equalizer. It does not, in the end, have the same impact everywhere."

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While the city's goal is to open all five sites by the open of the week, that will be contingent on getting enough testing kits from the federal government or private companies, according to de Blasio.

The mayor called on the federal government to provide New York City this week with the materials to test 110,000 people for the virus, including 25,000 tests kits specifically for city hospitals and the five new testing sites.

"The federal government really needs to step up," de Blasio said. "We have not gotten the help we need on testing. Here's a chance to get it right."

Widespread COVID-19 testing is a prerequisite to relaxing the stay-at-home order that has kept most New Yorkers indoors since the end of March, de Blasio says.

The city's limited testing resources have primarily gone to individuals who need hospitalization and first responders like EMS and health care workers, though urgent care centers have also been testing for the virus.

Yet the city is facing a "serious shortage" of the swabs used to test patients for the coronavirus, Gothamist reported Sunday, citing an alert the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene sent to health care providers over the weekend.

"To get to the phase where we've basically defeated the coronavirus and there's basically no transmission, we're going to get a lot more testing — really, really widespread testing," de Blasio said Sunday. "We're nowhere near that now."

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