PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia’s health commissioner said she expects a soft launch Thursday of a new COVID-19 testing site supported by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and state health officials.
Testing is in demand amid skyrocketing new case totals and hospitalizations.
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Commissioner Cheryl Bettigole said that if all goes as planned, the testing site will operate out of the Cibotti Recreation Center at 7700 Elmwood Ave. in Southwest Philadelphia from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, with a capacity for at least 500 tests a day.
Dr. Bettigole said the city has also put in a large order for at-home tests. She said it also asked for help accessing home tests from the federal government, but got rejected.
"They are distributing some tests through community sites," said Dr. Bettigole.
"I don’t believe those have arrived yet, but the addition of the federal site is a big addition to testing."
Tests have become difficult to get amid rising COVID-19 cases.
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The city is recording more than 3,000 new cases a day, and she believes that’s an extreme undercount because the positivity rate on test results the city receives is close to 40%.
More than 1,000 people are being treated in hospitals.
Some hospitals are postponing elective surgery, and she fears we may hit that situation where people die of curable illnesses because hospitals are so strained in treating COVID-19.
"Most people being hospitalized for COVID are not fully vaccinated, and I’m told by hospital medical directors that those who are hospitalized and vaccinated are not usually boosted," said Dr. Bettigole.
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She repeated her plea to get fully vaccinated and boosted, wear a high-quality mask or double mask, avoid crowded indoor places, and stay home if you’re sick.
According to Dr. Bettigole, the new mandate for vaccines at indoor dining venues is going well, and staff members at vaccination sites tell her they’re seeing how the mandate is pushing people to go in and get their shots.