EAST END, N.Y. — As the number of new COVID-19 cases continues to rise in Suffolk County, lawmakers are urging Gov. Kathy Hocul to open new testing sites in the East End.
New York State Senator Anthony Palumbo, New York State Rep. Fred Thiele and New York State Assemblywoman Jodi Giglio called on Hochul to open state testing sites in the East End to meet the rapidly growing demand and lack of home test kits in local pharmacies; .
“The state is setting up testing sites all over New York and in Nassau County, even to this day. No state test sites have been announced in eastern Suffolk,” Palumbo said.
The lack of testing sites, he said, is a concern with the numbers continuing to rise and the region's inability to meet testing requirements.
“As we've learned from previous increases, it's extremely important to ensure that residents from Montauk and Orient to Brookhaven Town have access to testing within a reasonable distance of their homes,” Palumbo said.
Thiele added that as the omicron variant spreads across the country, the number of new cases in New York State has grown exponentially.
“Suffolk County has some of the highest infection rates in the state,” he said. “Testing remains one of the most important weapons in our arsenal to fight the virus.”
East Suffolk residents are entitled to the same access to testing as all New Yorkers, he said, adding that Long Island's unique geography warrants special consideration.
“Residents, especially seniors, cannot be expected to travel an hour or more to west Suffolk to access a state-funded testing site,” Thiele said.
Giglio also spoke: “Begging people to get tested while requiring them to travel over an hour to do so is not serving to reduce the rates of diagnosis and transmission of COVID-19 on Long Island,” she said. “Our East End residents deserve the same testing availability as our neighbors to the west, for their safety and the safety of their families, neighbors and co-workers.”
