Health Southern Brooklyn

Mayor announces two new south Brooklyn testing sites during announcement of Take Care Initiative

June 4, 2020 Jaime DeJesus
Mayor announces two new south Brooklyn testing sites during announcement of Take Care Initiative
Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
Share this:

Spots near Dyker Heights and Fort Hamilton will receive additional COVID-19 testing sites, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday, May 27.

The mayor announced the testing sites during the city’s Test & Trace Corps’ “Take Care Initiative,” a new program to help all COVID positive New Yorkers safely separate to prevent the spread of the virus by providing free hotel rooms with wraparound services for New Yorkers who are unable to safely separate in their own homes and support those who are separating at home with designated Resource Navigators.

Of the many sites announced, during the week of June 8, 4002 Fort Hamilton Parkway and 6315 14th Avenue will be open.

Subscribe to our newsletters

“Helping New Yorkers safely separate is, along with testing and tracing, the key to safely reopening our city,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “Separating will help keep you and your loved ones safe—but it isn’t always easy. From providing free hotel rooms to delivering meals, your City is here to bridge the gap, and has your back each and every step of the way as you recover.”

The Test & Trace Corps is the City’s comprehensive system to test and trace all positive cases of COVID-19

According to the mayor, to help all New Yorkers ‘safely separate’ at home and monitor their health status, the Test & Trace Corps tracers will check-in via daily calls, text messages, and conduct in-person visits as necessary. These calls and texts will allow the monitors to gauge the progress of patients, ensure proper compliance with separation protocol,  and connect patients to more supportive services as necessary.

In addition, through partnerships with 15 community-based organizations across the city, Resource Navigators will help New Yorkers overcome logistical issues they may encounter while safely separating in their homes, such as access to basic services like food, medicine, and laundry. Two hundred Resource Navigators will be on the ground next week in communities across the city, with the intention to expand the program and hire additional navigators in the following weeks.

For any person who is unable to safely separate in their own home, the City will offer “Take Care Hotels” free of charge. Any doctor, nurse, or physician’s assistants across the city can email [email protected] to refer a patient to a room. If a person doesn’t have a doctor, any symptomatic New Yorker can call 844-692-4692, the City’s COVID hotline and ask for the COVID Hotel Program. 1,200 rooms are available now, with the goal to expand the number of rooms to 3,000 by late summer.

Over 1,700 tracers have also been hired to joined the Test & Trace Corp, surpassing the City’s goal to hire 1,000 tracers by June 1, with 700 hired from neighborhoods hardest hit by the virus. To ensure the Corps can meet the needs of  New Yorkers from all backgrounds, 40 languages are also spoken across the Corps.


Leave a Comment

Related Articles

Leave a Comment