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Rapid testing for COVID-19
A pop-up testing site in the Bronx can deliver results in about 15 minutes. The city's health commissioner said more rapid testing sites will open soon.
NEW YORK - New York City's health commissioner, Dr. Oxiris Barbot, returned to her Bronx roots on Tuesday. She toured a community pop-up testing site at St. Simon Stock Church in Tremont, where you can get COVID-19 results in about 15 minutes. It's part of a $10 million city initiative to bring more testing to hard-hit communities.
Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. came to take his test.
"It's free, it's fast and it's the best thing for us to stay healthy and safe," Diaz said.
These tests yield rapid results, which begs the question: why does it take so much longer to get results at some other city testing sites?
"It's something that we are, as we say, rolling out slowly to ensure that we are able to replicate the results," Barbot said.
The commissioner also warned New Yorkers about another possible surge, especially if we don't take serious safety measures.
"There's a pretty good chance we will have a second wave," Barbot said. "I think what's incumbent on all New Yorkers is that until the time we have a vaccination and a definitive treatment, our way of living is going to include the use of face coverings everywhere."
The city plans to open more pop-up sites in hard-hit areas of the five boroughs in the coming weeks. To find a testing site near you, call 311, text COVID TEST to 855-48, or see NYC.gov/COVIDTEST.