COVID-19 testing (Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)
Nov. 17, 2020 By Allie Griffin
New York City health officials are expanding rapid COVID-19 testing across the city — including Queens — as new cases continue to rise in the Big Apple.
A new rapid testing site that delivers coronavirus results in just 15 minutes opened today in Woodside, Executive Director of the NYC Test and Trace Corp Ted Long announced Tuesday.
The rapid testing site, located at 51-30 Northern Blvd., is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. It’s one of two rapid testing sites opening this week. The other site will open on Staten Island.
Long said the city is adding two large rapid testing sites each week.
“At these rapid testing sites, you come in, have your test done, you’ll have your result back within 15 minutes,” Long said.
The expansion of rapid testing is part of a larger city effort to encourage New Yorkers to get tested for COVID-19.
New York City has managed to do so much better than the rest of the country this fall because of FREE TESTING.
Last week, over 300,000 New Yorkers got tested for COVID-19. This is KEY to beating back the virus. Let’s keep it up.https://t.co/IcoMzifWpa
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) November 17, 2020
There were 1,117 new cases of COVID-19 — well above the ideal threshold of 550 cases — in New York City on Sunday, the latest data available.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday that the high number of new cases is due in part to increased testing. Last Friday, roughly 75,000 people got tested for the virus across the city — the highest single-day number since the the start of the pandemic.
De Blasio said the positivity rate is often a more telling indicator, particularly as more people are tested.
“If [the number of new cases] goes up because more and more people are getting tested, but our positivity levels do not go up intensely, that’s a good sign,” he said.
The positivity rate hit 3.2 percent Sunday, but the seven-day rolling average positivity rate was at 2.74 percent — a slight decrease from a day earlier.
De Blasio said the number is not ideal, but that the number improves as more people get tested.
“The more we test, the more we are finding that there are — thank God — not a massive increase in that positivity level,” de Blasio said.
The mayor encouraged New Yorkers to get tested for COVID-19.
“We need people to go out there and get tested,” he said. “It makes a difference.”
In addition to the new Woodside rapid testing site, the following Queens COVID-19 testing facilities offer the rapid tests.
Far Rockaway
39-20 Rockaway Beach Blvd.
Monday – Sunday, 9 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Kew Gardens Hills Library
72-33 Vleigh Pl.
Monday – Sunday, 9 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Queens Public Library at Lefferts
103-34 Lefferts Blvd.
Monday – Sunday, 9 a.m. – 7 p.m.
A full list of COVID-19 testing sites can be found on the city’s website.
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