Testing for the novel coronavirus continues to expand in the Tri-State area, as officials emphasize the need for more data on the COVID-19-causing virus.
While most area residents have had to wait days to get test results (in part due to backlogs at busy laboratories), three urgent care facilities on Long Island are now offering a test capable of delivering positive coronavirus results in a little as five minutes.
Negative results take about 13 minutes to deliver, according to an NBC New York report.
The facilities, run by American Family Care, are the first in the nation to provide molecular point-of-care testing for the novel coronavirus.
The three facilities are:
- AFC Urgent Care Farmingdale: Bi-County Shopping Center, 1037 FUlton Street, Farmingdale, NY 11735; https://www.afcurgentcare.com/farmingdale/.
- AFC Urgent Care East Meadow: 2310 Hempstead Turnpike, East Meadow, NY 11554; https://www.afcurgentcare.com/east-meadow/.
- AFC Urgent Care West Islip: 125 Sunrise Highway, West Islip, NY; https://www.afcurgentcare.com/west-islip/.
Currently, the facilities can conduct 300 rapid results tests per day. Those test are available on a first-come-first-serve basis and only to patients who are symptomatic.
Patients can visit their local urgent care online for up-to-date information and to call ahead to schedule an appointment so as to not overcrowd the locations.
The Food and Drug Administration issued emergency authorization on Friday for the rapid results tests.
In New Jersey, Rutgers University is helping to expedite the SARS-CoV-2 screening process through automation. The lab hopes its process will allow thousands of samples to be analyzed daily.
Mount Sinai Health System in New York City is urging residents both sick and healthy to sign up for the web-based STOP COVID NYC app to help researchers gather data about the virus's progression.
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