In response to the unprecedented surge of omicron cases and citywide testing demand, as reported, the NYC Test & Trace Corps announced on Wednesday, Jan. 5, that, since the surge began in early December, it has doubled the number of City-run test sites available, opening over 100 new fixed and mobile COVID-19 testing sites, as reported, and is currently operating over 200 testing sites throughout New York City.

 

 

NYC Health + Hospitals president and CEO, Mitchell Katz, MD, said the NYC Test & Trace Corps’ ability to expand the number of COVID-19 testing sites so quickly “by triple digits,” underscored its ability to respond to the changing waves of the pandemic and the threats the various COVID-19 variants posed to New Yorkers. “Our City’s public health system and our partners remain committed to ensuring every New Yorker has timely and convenient resources to better protect themselves and those around them from infection,” he said. “This has been our basic mission for over 20 months and will remain so for the duration of this pandemic.”

 

Meanwhile, senior VP of ambulatory care and population health at New York City Health + Hospitals and NYC Test & Trace Corps executive director, Dr. Ted Long, said working with communities across NYC, the hospital system doubled the number of City-run testing sites and distributed “millions of at-home test kits” to help New Yorkers get tested. “NYC Test & Trace and NYC Health + Hospitals stand committed to providing all New Yorkers with fast, accessible, and free testing resources,” he said. “Our teams have worked around the clock to open over one hundred new testing sites across New York City to help New Yorkers quickly and conveniently get tested.”

 

 

On Dec. 6, City-run testing facilities had processed 17,000 tests, or approximately 19 percent of the 7-day citywide average for PCR and antigen testing, according to NYC Health + Hospitals officials. Three weeks later, City-run testing facilities were conducting close to three times as many tests, officials said, with more than 50,000 tests being administered daily, or 35 percent of the 7-day citywide average for PCR and antigen testing.

 

City officials said there are also currently over 100 City-run mobile testing sites operating in all five boroughs, over 50 of which have opened in the last three weeks. There are also currently nearly 100 City-run fixed test site locations, over 40 of which have opened in the last three weeks, according to City officials. Fixed test sites include over 70 testing facilities operated by NYC Test & Trace, 18 testing facilities operated by New York City Health + Hospitals and Gotham Health testing facilities, and eight COVID-19 Express testing sites operated by the NYC Health Dept.

 

So wait let me get this straight—if my child’s teacher has “mild symptoms” she should stay home except to go to work so she can infect my child?! Way to make me feel like my child and my family matter @NYCMayor @NYCSchools @UFT @MOREcaucusUFT @ufcuft

— Daphna Thier (@grape1968) January 5, 2022

 

Over 20 additional testing sites will be opening over the course of the next week, officials said.

 

Shifra Goldenberg is NYC Test & Trace Corps senior manager of site and service implementation and director of implementation for the office of ambulatory care and population health at NYC Health + Hospitals. She said since the pandemic began, day in, day out, the NYC Test & Trace teams have worked tirelessly to provide additional testing resources wherever they’ve been needed, innovated ways to deliver testing as effectively as possible, and engaged community partners to determine site locations convenient to all New York’s diverse communities.

 

 “I am proud of our team members, including our healthcare workers and service operators providing testing on the frontlines of the pandemic, who have made this critical testing expansion possible and encouraged to see so many New Yorkers showing up to get tested and stop the spread,” Goldenberg said.

 

Teachers and Parents rally at Atlantic Barclays Center for Safe Schools @MOREcaucusUFT @UFT #teachers #kids #education #school #covid #newyorkcity pic.twitter.com/J02CMOcJIy

— Adrian (@ALChildress_) January 6, 2022

 

City officials also said that since Dec. 28, NYC Test & Trace has also distributed nearly 2 million tests to schools across New York City to support the City’s “Stay Safe and Stay Open” plan. Since schools reopened on Jan. 3, they said NYC Test & Trace has doubled the amount of in-school surveillance testing conducted on a daily basis, as reported. Officials said Test & Trace is also currently operating five fixed testing sites exclusively for Department of Education (DOE) staff to make testing for educators and other school employees as easy as possible as they return to the classroom.

 

Some New Yorkers continue to post on social media that they are still not convinced by the City’s approach to containing COVID-19, and said they do not want their kids at school. Some teachers have also voiced their frustrations on social media about the difficulties they face while teaching amid the surge of infections among kids and adults in schools.

 

Just a reminder that @UFT’s attitude of everyone will get Covid so why try to stop the spread is eugenics.

We serve kids who are unvaxxed/with underlying conditions. Our staff include members who are immunosuppressed and vulnerable, even w/ vaccination.

— MORE-UFT (@MOREcaucusUFT) January 6, 2022

 

In addition, officials said that between Dec. 15 and 29, NYC Test & Trace distributed over 1 million at-home test kits, or approximately 75,000 at-home test kits per day. This included City-run sites where at-home test kits were provided to people experiencing long lines, distributions at borough-based community locations, distributions to the offices of elected leaders throughout New York City, and distributions through the CBO-guided At-Home Test Kit & Mask Distribution Program, as reported.

 

At-home testing for COVID-19 is available to all immunocompromised New Yorkers and those ages 65 and older. Appointments for at-home testing are available seven days a week, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. New Yorkers may schedule an appointment by calling 929-298-9400.

 

Officials urged New Yorkers to visit NYC.gov/covidtest for a complete, up-to-date list of City-run testing sites to find a location that is most convenient and accessible for them.

 

 

Earlier this week, as reported by Forbes, it was announced that a new variant of COVID-19 was identified in France, following the return to France of a resident from Cameroon. Health officials, so far, have said the new variant is not, currently, considered a variant of concern.

 

Earlier this week, as reported, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called on President Joe Biden to provide more supplies of recently approved antiviral pills to treat COVID-19 patients who are seriously ill, to be delivered to New York State, to counter the surge in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, the majority of whom are unvaccinated, according to the City data.