City to shut down airport test sites as holiday surge looms
/
Two COVID-19 testing facilities run by NYC Health + Hospital at the borough’s airports will close Dec. 4. Photo via NYC Health + Hospitals
By Rachel Vick
Amid the holiday season rush and rising case numbers, two COVID-19 testing sites at LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy Airport are closing after next week.
As of Dec. 4, the sites operated by New York City Health + Hospitals will no longer be in operation at the borough’s airports. Neither Health + Hospitals nor the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey currently have a plan to replace the site’s capacity or bring it back online.
“We recognize that the NYC Health + Hospitals Covid testing site at LaGuardia Airport’s Terminal B Garage was utilized heavily by the airport and local community,” a Port Authority spokesperson told the Eagle. “Although the last day that test site will operate is December 4, the Port Authority is working closely with NYC H+H and other stakeholders to provide mobile and other convenient testing options, at or around the airport.”
H+H declined to pursue other options on site at John F. Kennedy Airport due to the availability of other testing facilities accepting insurance at the airport, according to the Port Authority spokesperson.
“We are actively working with the Port Authority to establish a continuity plan for testing at our airports while we continue to provide testing at thousands of locations across New York City,” NYC Health + Hospitals spokesperson Adam Shrier told the Eagle.
When asked, Health + Hospitals was unable to provide an explanation for the closures or details for interim testing availability on site.
In the last week, there were 1,363 cases of COVID-19 — an upwards trend — and 114 new cases per 100,000 people citywide, according to DOHMH data.
Elmhurst, which is adjacent to LaGuardia Airport had 78.52 new cases per 100,000 people in the last seven days and, over the course of the pandemic, one in five residents contracted the virus, according to Department of Health data.
“We’re flabbergasted to learn Queens’ largest drop in COVID test sites (JKF & LGA) are scheduled to permanently close… [with] rising COVID numbers [and] approaching holiday,” Community Board 6 tweeted Monday night. “Closing them now with rising case numbers [and] when there will be an increase of family gatherings [and] exposure is dangerous!”
Concerned locals responded online to the news with criticism and concern, pointing out the proximity to the neighborhood that was once the epicenter of the pandemic.
Local Twitter users called the decision “absurd,” “irresponsible” and “unacceptable.”
You can find a COVID-19 testing site near you by texting "COVID TEST" to 855-48 or online.
