With positive test rates and holidays approaching across the city for covid-19 admission, demand for coronavirus tests is growing and New Yorkers are once again seen waiting in lines for hours for testing.
CTMD, with 76 emergency care centers in five boroughs, has the dubious honor of waiting for the worst time for a free trial.
Especially the long front guy CTMD line He told Gothmist on Atlantic Avenue near Nevins Street in Boarm Hill on Friday afternoon that it took him four hours to reach the gate.
At 4 p.m., a CTMD worker came out to inform those joining the line that, still waiting three and a half to four hours that day, they would not come for any test that day. .
“I’m not likely to take the test tonight,” said Henry Hoffman, who came from California and wanted to take the test before heading to Washington D.C. to see the family for Thanksgiving. “If I come at tomorrow morning I can be there first and get a test right now.”
The CTMD doesn’t open until 9 a.m. Saturday, but a worker who went out to talk to the women and others on the line told them it’s normal for people to show up early. He said 50 people were waiting until the site opened on Friday morning.
CTMD, which also has several locations in Long Island, Rockland and Westchester counties and New Jersey, began closing all of its locations for an hour and a half earlier this week. In an email for patients last week, the emergency care chain said, “Our site staff and doctors have been seeing patients better than usual for hours now, and we’ve reached a point where they’re sacrificing their safety and health.” . “
In response to Gothamist’s inquiries about whether CTMD is taking any steps to meet the higher demand, a spokesman said Friday that the demand for the COVID-19 test was “never too high.”
“[W]And ask patients to plan accordingly. We are very proud of how hard our team is working to meet this growing demand, ”the spokesperson added.
Most of the people who lined up at Boaram Hill location on Friday said they were ready for the long wait because they lived in the area and had already crossed the line. Some brought books or friends to keep with them; Two people resorted to playing hand games, and one woman got bored on spreadsheets on her laptop while she was on the line. Still, Hoffman suggested that it would be better for people to register for appointments online at this time.
New Yorkers visiting other CTMD locations this week reported similar waiting times. One woman told Gothmist that she waited about three hours after arriving at Prospect Heights CTMD at 9:45 p.m.
The city and state have seen an increase in testing over the past few months. On Saturday, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that New York State had recorded 207,907 records on Friday.
Part of the test takers during this period included college college students. Earlier in the week, Cuomo and six other governors from the Northeast encouraged colleges and universities to test students before leaving campus for a Thanksgiving break to reduce the potential spread of the virus. State University of New York says it will roll out the required testing of its 140,000 students early next week. Suni students will now go full remote well next semester.
According to state data, testing has more than doubled since September (the day on the data chart is a mix of results from the week before).
In New York City, testing has increased by about 60% since September (data can be reduced to 3-4 days).
Eileen Clancy, who lives in East Village, said she tried CTMD on East 14th Street on Wednesday evening after she started feeling the weather a few days ago. When he got there, he learned that someone had already been appointed as the last person to see him that day. She then proceeded to West 14th Street, where she waited three hours in the cold.
Clancy says CTMD, which operates privately, should be working with the city to address the long lines, or at least improve the experience for those trying to test. “We’re all in this together,” he said. “It is not possible for people to show up and act like idiots. I saw someone who spent more than two hours there and got out of there. “
They went to the CTMD of Hobokens about two hours before opening today. The line has already circled the entire block, with at least 100 ppl waiting.
Each test site is booked within days within a 2 hour drive. CDC: “Be responsible, test.” But good luck finding one. How is this okay?
– Shannon Lynch @ (@ ShannonBlinch) November 21, 2020
While some may be considering lesser-known emergency care centers and their doctors ’offices, there are also about 70 walk-in sites operated by NYC Health + Hospitals. One person Report Five hours of waiting for a free trial at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan on Thursday. On Friday, NYC Health + Hospitals Tweeted At 12:47 p.m., the Bellevue Test Center will not allow anyone else to line up that day. “People who are already in line will be seen,” the public health agency said.
A spokesman for NYC Health + Hospitals did not respond to a request for comment Friday saying the city has a long-awaited wait for COVID-19 tests at some of its sites on Friday.
Still, other city-operated sites had more managed waits.
Margaret Bortner said the one-and-a-half-hour wait Friday evening at the city-run test site at the Red Hook Recreation Center seemed more reasonable than the three-hour wait seen at CTMD earlier that day. Bortner was there with his sister, niece and younger nephews and said the kids would not be able to handle the three-hour line.
This group was tested for the first time. Bortner said one of his nephews attends a school where a student who recently dropped out of another student’s parents tested positive for COVID-19.
“We’ve removed a lot of places from it but want to be careful,” Bortner said. “Also, we want to see our parents on Thanksgiving. They are also being tested so that we can all be in the same room together. “
Bortner said his group also takes other precautions, mostly staying in their small pods and trying to socialize outside.
Public health experts say that if people are going to the homes of friends or family members for the holidays this year, the best course of action is to keep them separate already. A negative test result does not mean that no one has been infected with COVID-19, as the tests are not foolproof and may take days to show a new infection.
Abigail Hitchcock, who waited about three hours outside Boarm Hill CityMD on Friday, was thinking about her family’s Thanksgiving plans. She and her husband were being tested because they wanted to see Hitchcock’s father, who turned just 80 this weekend, and his stepmother.
“Even though people told us not to travel, we would take the opportunity to take the trip,” he said. “He only turns 80 once so he feels comfortable with it too.”
He could spend Thanksgiving with his mother, who plans to come to town for the day. “We may, at the last minute, decide not to come inside her or make her feel comfortable,” Hitchcock said. “It simply came to our notice then. It’s all very scary at once. So, seeing how the rate comes in, we’ll keep playing it by ear. “
Where you can get a coronavirus test, From our test descriptor:
For the full range of test sites, New York City users a Search website Health information is powered by the firm CastLight. Note that some of the clinics on the list may charge for testing. (Note: NYC’s public hospital system, Health + Hospitals has its own local labs that help to change the outcome, while clinics like CTMD rely on sending out the results.)
For a complete list of free and walk-in test sites, New Yorkers can find convenient locations by:
There are also Nine COVID-19 Express test sites In the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens, where Tests are available by appointment.
The Emergency Care Clinic offers free tests to all uninsured New Yorkers under an agreement with CTMD City.
Public school families and staff are requested to visit one 22 priority test sites Powered by the city’s health and hospitals system. No appointment required.
