New self-swab sites at Port Authority Bus Terminal and Penn Station could be the solution to those long lines for COVID tests, with early users reporting that they’re working well.
No appointment is needed for the walk-in test centers, which have been set up alongside testing sites at JFK and La Guardia Airports in the wake of an upsurge of travelers over Thanksgiving – and fears that cases will significantly rise as a result.
“The more information we have – of who’s potentially contracted COVID during the holidays – the better we can do our contact tracing,” Ted Long, executive director of the city’s Test & Trace Corps, which runs the city’s contract-tracing efforts, told the Wall Street Journal.
Jen Chung was enthusiastic after trying out the Penn Station site. She tweeted: “Just got a COVID-19 test at Penn Station – took less than 10 minutes (longest part was confirming my email, longer than the self-swab even). The NYC Health System worker who assisted me was the best – so upbeat and reassuring about the process.”
Senator Brad Hoylman welcomed the move, tweeting: “I’m grateful to the City for adding this site [at Penn] and another at the Port Authority Bus Terminal after a letter from my office and other outreach from our community. We need even more of them.”
The testing sites can be found at:
Penn Station Arrivals Hall
W 31st St & 8th Ave
M-F, 8am-6:30pm
Port Authority Bus Terminal
625 8th Ave
M-F, 8am-6:30pm
Check the NYC Health + Hospitals site for the most up-to-date information.
What’s been your experience of testing at these or other sites? Please share below in the comments.