Can’t stand long waits for tests? Check web
New Yorkers frustrated with standing in long lines to get COVID tests will now have a way to find the shortest waits in the city.
Mayor de Blasio announced Monday that the city’s Health + Hospitals network would post wait-time updates three times a day on Twitter pointing people to testing sites with the shortest waits.
The city’s public hospitals system will also post updates for wait times at 51 testing sites online at testandtrace.nyc.
“One of the things I’ve heard from so many people is they really want to get tested, but they’re concerned about long lines and the turnaround time for the test,” de Blasio said at his morning press briefing Monday. “You can really plan carefully where you want to go get tested, but the bottom line is get tested. There’s still so many people who’ve never been tested, or only been tested once.”
De Blasio said that as of Monday the city has also opened 25 new testing sites in the last week.
He stressed that people returning from holiday travel especially should plan to get a test or quarantine.
“Testing from the very beginning has been at the core of every strategy,” he said. “And testing is what we are doubling down now in New York City.”
Dr. Amanda Johnson, the director of the Take Care Division of the city’s Test and Trace Corps, warned that New Yorkers should take particular care when it comes to the household transmission of coronavirus, which she said accounts for at least one out of five new cases in recent weeks.
“The implication of this is clear and urgent,” she said. “If you have symptoms of COVID-19 or you’ve been exposed to someone with symptoms of COVID-19, don’t wait, separate.”