New Haven’s third walk-up site is up in running at Day Street Park. It’s part of the city’s plan to make testing more accessible, especially in the areas that are hardest hit by COVID-19.
“Once we know where these areas are, we are scaling up testing,” said Maritza Bond, health director for the City of New Haven.
It follows test centers on Dixwell Avenue and in Fair Haven. The neighborhoods around them – including Dixwell, Newhallville, Fair Haven and Dwight – are where a large number of cases have been found. Testing can help slow the spread.
“We know that when testing and contact tracing are coupled together, we know that we can mitigate this, so we are going to be scaling up testing sites throughout the city,” said Bond.
The site is run by Dr. Steven Murphy who also hopes for more sites. He said the design is simple and it will do well in cities where getting to drive up tests are difficult.
“The city of New Haven needs these services and we’re so proud to work with the mayor and director Bond to be able to deploy testing centers like this, and our hope is we’ll be able to deploy many of these in the city,” said Murphy.
Patients are given a nasal test and lab results take about 48 hours. Bond said the sooner people find out, the better. While hospitalizations are down, new cases are still on the rise.
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“If we can isolate individuals quicker, they know that they have COVID-19, they can also take the proper measures to take care of themselves,” said Bond. “To be able to self-isolate and quarantine in their homes, and that’s how we flatten the curve.”
