NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — As the city's COVID cases surge, more New Yorkers are getting tested, which is once again leading to long lines across many sites.
WABC-TV reported long lines with people waiting for hours to get tested at several CityMD sites, which prompted City Councilman Mark Levine to tweet out a list of city-run sites where he said wait times are typically shorter.
"Lines for covid testing at CityMD are again running around the block. It's outrageous that two years in it's still so tough to get a test in NYC," Levine tweeted. "In the meantime, don't forget about the excellent City-run sites, where the wait is usually much shorter."
On the Upper West Side, there were about 100 people waiting in line Thursday at 97th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, where two mobile testing vans were stationed.
"It's because it's closer to the holidays. We were here last week because we had to go to Philly and there was nobody," said one person.
Many in line said they were there after being exposed to other people who tested positive, while one man said he was only getting tested because he's getting on a flight.
"I'm a young, healthy man. I'm not concerned about nothing. It's not that I'm not concerned about COVID, I worry about older people of course, but I'm a young, healthy man, you know, I'm in the prime of my life. I can fight everything, you know," he said.
One woman, named Lucy, who overheard the man's comments said, "I'm so upset because I think he's part of the reason we're in this dreadful mess. Shame on him."
She said she's trying to do the right thing and contuining to take all the recommended precautions.
"I see it all over the place. People are just exhausted, they're fed up with it. I am more cautious. I've always been. I didn't kind of lighten up when everybody else did. I'm 70 years old. I don't mess around," she said. "I'm COVID weary at this point, but I'm still following all the guidelines and doing the best I can."
Among some people in the group, there's a sense that the city and country are going backwards in the fight against the virus.
"It's a little discouraging because you feel that New York was coming back. I know that we're still in the middle of a pandemic," another man said. "I've seen an increase in these mobile vans and for each one of them there's long lines."
The city's positivity rate nearly doubled over a three-day period in the last week, which one man waiting for his test called "unnerving." New York State on Thursday also reported 18,276 positive tests, the highest single-day total since January.
Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday laid out a six-point plan to address the COVID surge that includes an emphasis on encouraging booster shots, increasing testing capacity and distributing 500,000 rapid tests and 1 million face masks for free.
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