New Yorkers Urged To Get Tested For Coronavirus: 'There Is No Reason Why You Should Not Get The Test'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Local leaders are calling for thousands more New Yorkers to get tested for the coronavirus, and the city announced even people who are uninsured can now get tested at urgent care centers.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo is telling New Yorkers to follow his lead as he pushes for more testing for many more people.
A doctor in head-to-toe personal protection equipment was invited by the governor to get very close during Sunday's televised briefing.
With his eyes shut, Cuomo calmly submitted to a coronavirus nasal swab test.
"That is the whole test. I am not in pain," Cuomo said afterwards.
Watch: Gov. Andrew Cuomo Gives Daily Coronavirus Briefing (5/17) --
It was a media moment to encourage more New Yorkers to do the same.
"There is no reason why you should not get the test," Cuomo said.
The governor says New York is now completing 40,000 tests per day, and he wants that to increase.
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Newly qualified to step to the front of the line for tests are those returning to work as part of reopening phase one -- mainly upstate construction, manufacturing, agriculture and some retail workers.
The city announced coronavirus testing will be free of charge for uninsured New Yorkers at CityMD Urgent Care locations. There are 123 of them in the area.
In Midtown, out-of-work office manager Diana Savuran is not experiencing any symptoms but was convinced to get both the nasal swab and the antibody tests.
"They recommended that it's better because then you know if everything's fine, so I just want to make sure," Savuran told CBS2's Dave Carlin.
CORONAVIRUS: NY Health Dept. | NY Call 1-(888)-364-3065 | NYC Health Dept. | NYC Call 311, Text COVID to 692692 | NJ Health Dept. | NJ Call 1-(800)-222-1222 or 211, Text NJCOVID to 898211 | CT Health Dept. | CT Call 211
Testing is necessary to improve tracing of the virus.
New York City is deploying newly trained contact tracers this week. The workers will meet with COVID-19 survivors to investigate the spread and pinpoint who else in someone's circle might be unknowingly infected.
A total of 500 people are finished with training, and the goal is to have 1,000 contact tracers in the field by the end of May.
Watch: Mayor Bill de Blasio Holds Daily Coronavirus Briefing (5/17) --
"In the next literally two weeks, you're going to see a vast testing and tracing operation come alive like we've never seen before in this city, and this is just the beginning," Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
The mayor also announced the hiring of up to 300 more resource navigators -- the people who bring groceries and medicine to coronavirus patients who are self-quarantining.
