NEW YORK (WKBW) — New York Governor Kathy Hochul held a COVID-19 briefing Monday and detailed the actions the state is taking to address a winter surge of COVID-19.
As part of the plan, the state will increase the availability of COVID-19 testing. This includes the launch of an online portal that will allow New Yorkers to order at-home PCR tests. The tests will be sent via overnight mail, you will swab yourself, put it back in the prepaid envelope and receive your results within 48 hours. The state is finalizing a launch date for the portal and will have more details at the end of the week.
In addition, the state will take the following actions to increase testing availability:
- Distribute 10 million more over-the-counter COVID-19 tests across the state. Five million will arrive before the new year and five million will arrive in January.
- Seven new NYS COVID-19 testing sites will open beginning the week of December 27.
There are currently 1,800 COVID-19 testing sites in NYS, you can find the one closest to you here.
In addition to increasing the availability of testing, as part of the winter surge plan the state will make $65 million available to local governments to help them with the costs associated with mask or vaccination protocols.
The Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services will distribute six million masks directly to county emergency mangers as well.
