By COLlive reporter
Kings County Hospital Center located in the East Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn set up an appointment-only COVID-19 testing center that is said to be fully operative on Monday.
It is one of the last of the 10 acute care “assessment and testing” centers to go up as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in New York City reach 9,654 cases (as of Sunday 10:00 am).
The expanded testing capacity—available by appointment only—will help keep people seeking testing out of emergency departments and ensure testing access for New Yorkers with moderate-to-severe symptoms.
Officials said that those with mild illness, who are not above the age of 50 or have underlying health conditions, should continue to stay home, practice social distancing, and consult their health care provider if their symptoms do not subside in 3-4 days.
“If we’re going to curb this epidemic, we need fast and expansive testing for those most at risk for serious illness,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “Now we can get more New Yorkers the care they need at the right time—helping save lives, one test at a time.”
Patients with appointments will receive an expedited consultation with a primary care physician to capture their medical history before their sample is collected for testing. This will ensure that the appropriate medical treatment is provided should a test come back positive. Samples collected by NYC Health + Hospitals will be sent to BioReference Laboratory for testing.
The mayor said that tests will be done “on a priority basis, on a reservation basis, until we have much, much greater testing capacity, everything must be focused on those in greatest need and everything will be done on reservation basis.”
He said that people that walk-up or drive-up without a reservation cannot be tested. “We have to keep the priorities tight here, but we keep, we keep working every day to try and expand the amount of testing to reach as far as we can,” he said.
Kings County will serve approximately 100 people per day, de Blasio said. A COLlive reporter spoke an a hospital staffer on Monday night as they were setting up the tents and monitors. “We’ll be open tomorrow,” the person said.
This center is separate from the State-operated drive-through testing center in Staten Island and separate from the five new testing centers that are coming soon in coordination with FEMA that will be set-up in New York City.
So where do you call to get an appointment? Article is great news, but not informative
As well if somebody thinks that they have Corona symptoms, the Best thing is probably just to quarantine for At Least a Minimum of 2 weeks (which all of ch should be doing regardless trying to currently quarantine), If these symptoms are mild and these is no true emergency, going to the doctor/hospital or This new test location, trying to get a appointment, and on the way of all this possibly exposing much more people to corona in our community is just not a good idea and not safe, as well going to get tested in the same place as… Read more »