New York state expands eligibility for coronavirus testing
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All first responders, frontline health care workers and essential workers in New York state will be eligible for coronavirus testing.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Saturday he will sign an executive order allowing independent pharmacies to conduct coronavirus testing.
The order will create 5,000 COVID-19 testing sites, Cuomo said at a press briefing. The state currently has enough labs to handle the current volume of COVID-19 tests, but needs more sites, like pharmacies, to collect samples from residents, he said.
“People can go to their local drugstore,” Cuomo said. “They would be collection sites that would quickly ramp up our collection capacity.”
New York state currently conducts 20,000 tests each day, more than any other state or country per capita, Cuomo said. The state’s goal is to test 40,000 people per day through partnering with the federal government, he said.
The coronavirus causes COVID-19, a respiratory disease that has infected and killed in New York state as of Saturday. The state has confirmed 437 deaths as of Friday, an overall decline from the beginning of the week.
“Just when you think you’re going to have a good day, this reality slaps you right in the face,” Cuomo said.
New York state will also expand testing criteria to make first responders, health care workers and essential employees eligible for testing even if they aren’t showing symptoms of COVID-19, Cuomo said.
The hospitalization and infection rate for COVID-19 is declining, and the number of serious COVID-19 infections has been significantly lower than some earlier estimates suggested, Cuomo said. The state aims to lower the number of new infections to a couple hundred a day, he said.
New York state will conduct antibody tests Saturday for frontline health care workers at four hospitals and health care systems in New York City, Cuomo said. The state will perform antibody tests on transit workers in downstate New York next week.
The governor encouraged residents to continue practicing social distancing. These measures have helped lower the virus’s infection rate, he said.
“We actually saved lives. That is inarguable,” he said. “I believe everything we did was worth it.”
Published on April 25, 2020 at 11:17 pm
Contact Abby: akweiss@syr.edu | @abbyweiss_21
