As New Jersey hospitals prepare for the possibility of the largest surge in COVID patients to date, the state is getting a new tool in the fight against the virus.
A federally sponsored testing site started welcoming patients in East Orange on Friday, the same day the Garden State reported a record 28,512 positive cases. The new COVID-19 testing location officially opens Saturday and officials at the site plan to test people for at least the next two weeks.
The new walk-in locations offers PCR testing with results due back within 24 hours -- appointments can also be made online.
Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox.> Sign up for NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter.
Current capacity at the location off Route 280 and the Garden State Parkway allows for up to 1,000 tests each day, but officials say there may be some flexibility in their operations.
"There is room to actually extend the operation and that's the flexibility that is wonderful when working with the additional partners," East Orange Health and Human Services Director Dr. Monique Griffith said.
Griffith feels confident the feds are planning on the flexibility to go beyond the January 12 planned lifespan of the site, and beyond the 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. hours already announced.
"A lot of people I know have been getting sick, so I feel like this is a very good thing they have a lot more testing sites available for people, free too," said Brooklynne Tate, of East Orange.
Gov. Phil Murphy toured the state's newest testing location late Friday alongside Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli, where he said "the speed at which omicron is spreading is staggering."
News
It's the kind of spread that had the state jump on the CDC’s offer Christmas Eve to set up the testing site, now open seven days a week.
The governor during this visit said he had no news on any statewide indoor mask mandate, but the health commissioner said evidence suggests the omicron variant is as contagious as measles, which she said is the most infective disease known.
