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UPDATE COVID-19 Testing at Bronx Zoo & E. 180th St., Test Price Gouging & Reduced Isolation Requirements

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By SÍLE MOLONEY
Private COVID-19 Testing 
Photo courtesy of Emery Peyton via Flickr

Amid massive COVID-19 testing shortages, Somos Community Care and NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene (NYC DOH) are launching a new testing site at Bronx Zoo for New Yorkers aged 5 and older.

 

As cases of the COVID-19 Omicron variant continue to rise in New York City, and despite many NYC Health + Hospitals sites reinforcing testing availability, demand for tests is skyrocketing. It is hoped the new testing site will help alleviate some of the pressure. The Bronx Zoo testing site will also help support the zoo’s Holiday Light Show and officials say the first 300 guests who can show proof of vaccinations will receive two free tickets and free parking for the Holiday Lights Show on Dec. 29.

 

Furthermore, individuals who receive a vaccination on Dec. 29, at the zoo, will be eligible to receive a date-specific complimentary ticket. Appointments are available via SOMOS Vaccinations at www.somosvaccinations.com.

Notice as of Dec. 29, 2021 from NYC Health + Hospitals re testing center opening hours.
Image via NYC Health + Hospitals

Patrons of the zoo are reminded that masks are required for the Holiday Light Show. Access to the new vaccination site is from Southern Boulevard only. Visitors should use the pedestrian entrance on Southern Boulevard near 183rd Street, or the parking lot entrance at 2300 Southern Boulevard.

 

Norwood News has asked for confirmation of the business hours at the new Bronx Zoo site and will update this story upon receipt of a response.

 

NYC Health + Hospitals testing and vaccination site opening hours Dec. 27, 2021 to Jan. 2, 2022.
Image courtesy of NYC Health + Hospitals

 

Though COVID-19 tests are free, a widely reported shortage of testing sites in the lead up to the holiday season meant that some private testing providers were reportedly hiking up testing prices. The deluge of New Yorkers trying to get mandatory COVID-19 test results back before embarking on holiday travel, coupled with another surge in infection rates caused by the highly transmissible Omicron variant, seemingly prompted some private providers to take advantage of the resulting bottleneck at laboratories, and charge exorbitant prices for speedy results.

 

The Office of Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (A.D. 81) confirmed, prior to Christmas, that reports had been trickling in of private testing providers charging significant amounts of money in the Bronx for both antigen and PCR tests. According to his office, one such report was of a 25 percent cost price increase for a test, from $80 to $100, over the course of one week.

 

COVID-19 citywide status as of Dec. 28, 2021.
Source: NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene

Dinowitz said his office received several complaints about extremely high costs for COVID-19 antigen and PCR tests carried out by private testing providers, as well as complaints about the cost of purchasing at-home test kits.

 

As previously reported by Norwood News, New York State governs price gouging. General Business Law (Section 396-r), states “During any abnormal disruption of the market for goods and services vital and necessary for the health, safety, and welfare of consumers or the general public, no party within the chain of distribution of such goods or services or both shall sell or offer to sell any such goods or services for an amount which represents an unconscionably excessive price.”

 

 

The statute goes on to explicitly cover “essential medical supplies and services used for the care, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of any illness or disease” as well as “any other essential goods and services used to promote the health or welfare of the public.”

 

The only permissible reason under state statute for large price increases of covered goods and services are if the increase “preserves the margin of profit that the defendant received for the same goods or services prior to the abnormal disruption of the market” or if “additional costs not within the control of the defendant were imposed on the defendant for the goods or services.

The Attorney General is tasked with enforcing this statute and violators may face a penalty of up to $25,000 per violation or three times the gross receipts for the relevant goods or services (whichever is greater) as well as restitution where appropriate.

 

Referring to the price gouging crisis, Dinowitz said, “At a time when it is in the public interest to ensure COVID-19 testing is available to as many New Yorkers as possible, it is unacceptable for private providers to be using this as an opportunity to make boatloads of profit for themselves.”

He added, “I applaud the Attorney General’s ongoing efforts to combat price gouging for at-home tests, and urge her office to expand their investigatory focus to also include antigen and PCR testing as well. This is a public health crisis, and we need everybody making decisions based on public health factors – not financial ones. I support the NYS AG using any and all appropriate recourse to combat this unacceptable behavior.”

 

Of course, the testing crisis is not unique to the Bronx and has been experienced all across the City, State and country. Prior to Christmas, there were reports of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), itself, sending a team of staff to Queens to help relieve demand there for testing, while one Manhattan private testing provider was charging $449 for PCR test results within four hours. Such guarantees were not always honored.

Clear-19 ad for COVID-19 testing
Image from Clear-19’s website

The assemblyman said that price gouging complaints should be reported to the NYS Attorney General’s Office, here: https://formsnym.ag.ny.gov/OAGOnlineSubm…/faces/OAGPGCHome

 

Meanwhile, AP reports that new recommendations were issued in recent days by the CDC on COVID-19 isolation periods. People with the virus can now leave isolation after five days, down from 10 days.

New Hospital Visitor Policy at NYC Health + Hospitals
Image courtesy of NYC Health + Hospitals

 

Reacting to the news, New York Attorney General Letitia James issued a statement to employers on Dec. 29, saying,  “The health and safety of all New Yorkers has always been our top priority, and, in order to protect our communities, we must continue to act responsibly and carefully. It is essential that any employee who is exhibiting any COVID-19 symptom and tests positive not be pressured to return to the workplace before those symptoms subside. We must take the necessary steps to stop the spread of this virus, and this is a basic and common-sense approach.”

 

New Outpatient Clinic Visitor Policy at NYC Health + Hospitals
Image courtesy of NYC Health + Hospitals

 

Meanwhile, as reported, public schools have also reinforced their testing procedures in advance of the Jan. 3 reopening, following calls for more robust testing from the UFT and some elected officials, including local Bronx City Councilman Eric Dinowitz, who anticipate a greater need for testing as students who may have traveled over the holidays return to school.

 

 

On Wednesday, Dec. 29, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced that one additional Bronx subway station will provide COVID-19 testing, beginning Dec. 30. Walk-in, state-funded, PCR COVID-19 testing will be available at East 180th Street subway station Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., from Dec. 30.

 

Testing is also available at the following subway stations:

Times Square-42nd St (Manhattan) Monday – Sunday, 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Grand Central Terminal (Manhattan) Monday – Sunday, 3:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Penn Station (Manhattan) Monday – Sunday, 3:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Broadway Junction (Brooklyn) Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Roosevelt Ave (Queens) Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Jamaica–179th St (Queens) Monday – Friday, 2:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

 

The testing sites at Penn Station and Jamaica-179th St will be closed on New Year’s Eve, and all sites will be closed on New Year’s Day, and open again either on Sunday or on Monday as noted.

 

The state-funded testing program provides anyone, including those visiting New York, the opportunity to get tested without an appointment.

 

The testing sites at Times Square-42nd St and Grand Central Terminal are also pop-up vaccination sites and offer COVID-19 vaccine booster shots.

 

In May of this year and in collaboration with the MTA, New York State began a COVID-19 vaccination program that provided the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine at pop-up sites in various subway stations. Currently, Moderna vaccines and boosters are being offered. To date, more than 38,000 people have been vaccinated at these pop-up sites.

 

NYC DOH officials remind New Yorkers that the best tools to fight the pandemic remain getting vaccinated and wearing masks. Meanwhile, to mitigate the effects of the Omicron variant and to protect patients, visitors, and staff, NYC Health + Hospitals have advised that visits to patients in its 11 hospitals are temporarily suspended, with some exceptions. For outpatient clinics, one person may accompany each patient to an appointment.

 

Norwood News previously reported on the rules around price gouging, and the options available to consumers affected by it.

 

 

Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.

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