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"Pretty Desperate" New Yorkers Are Rushing To Get COVID Tests Before Christmas
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Dec 23, 2020
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Jake Offenhartz/Gothamist
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Dec 23, 2020
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As the sun rose over Manhattan on Wednesday morning, nearly 100 people were already lined up along half a city block of East 14th Street. Several had brought their own folding chairs. One woman passed out hand warmers. By the time CityMD opened its doors at 8 a.m., the queue had stretched to Third Avenue, twisting south and out of sight from the urgent care facility.
Less than an hour later, at 8:57 a.m., a security guard in a black three-piece suit announced the facility had scheduled its final COVID test of the day. Those who'd spent hours in the line would have to look elsewhere, he said. A few people cursed at him and trudged off to the next location.
"I'm pretty desperate," said Sully, a 24-year-old barista, who was hoping to get a rapid test before visiting family upstate on Thursday. "It's like our dreams got crushed."
Just as they did before Thanksgiving, New Yorkers are once again converging on COVID testing sites en masse. The surge is especially apparent at the city's urgent care centers, due in part to the facilities’ rapid tests, which can return results in under 30 minutes. (A few NYC Health & Hospitals also offer the rapid tests, though most use the more reliable PCR swab.)
In response to the hours-long lines, CityMD rolled out a virtual line service this week, allowing patients to leave their names and numbers at the desk, and receive a text once their appointment is available.
"The problem is we still have to cut off the lines," said one CityMD physician, who was not authorized to speak on the record. "There’s definitely way more people waiting in line this morning than there have been in the last few weeks," she added.
New Yorkers waited close to three hours for a test at Bellevue Hospital on Wednesday
Jake Offenhartz/Gothamist
Even at some city public hospitals, where lines typically move faster than private urgent cares, securing a COVID test may entail several hours of standing. The Queens Hospital Center, Greenbelt Recreational in Staten Island, and Highbridge Pool in Washington Heights all reported wait times of more than two hours on Wednesday afternoon, according to the city's real-time testing dashboard.
Julie Bolcer, a spokesperson for the city's Test & Trace Corp, said that testing sites had built out lab capacity "to ensure we are in strong shape for any increased demand related to the holidays." The average turnaround time for a COVID test from the city's hospital system is still within 24 to 48 hours, she said.
Matthew Von Barton and his husband Geoffrey said they'd spent close to three hours at Bellevue Hospital on Wednesday, the first time they've had to wait in multiple visits to the location. They planned to visit family on Thursday, and joked that they'd developed a "trust but verify" system for rare gatherings, in which attendees were required to share their COVID test results in the group chat.
"For us and I think the majority of people we know, everyone is doing small controlled gatherings with lots of precautions," Von Barton said.
While the Centers for Disease Control has urged Americans to avoid holiday celebrations outside of their own household, they've also issued guidance for those who do plan to travel, which includes getting tested.
Governor Andrew Cuomo offered his own risk-mitigation advice on Wednesday: "Avoid the density, open the windows, take a walk outside," he said. "Just be smart about the way you celebrate."
Susana Carmen Ventura, better-known to many as Lower East Side performance artist Penny Arcade, said she planned to celebrate with her five-person "pod" — a group that includes fellow artists, a paper conservator at the Met, and the mixologists behind Harlem cocktail bar Sugar Monk.
Several pod-members had spent Wednesday morning frantically seeking out tests ahead of the small gathering, she said. After two failed attempts at other locations, Arcade ended up at Bellevue Hospital, where she waited for more than two hours.
"My toes are freezing," she said. "It takes something really extreme for a New Yorker like me to stand on line."
Those hoping to try for a test again tomorrow should set their alarms early: the city plans to close its public testing sites at 2 p.m. on Thursday, and throughout the day on Christmas and New Year's Day.
Tagged
COVID-19
testing
coronavirus
Jake Offenhartz
Jake Offenhartz is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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