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The expanded criteria will now allow all first responders, healthcare workers and essential employees to be tested for COVID-19 even if they aren't symptomatic, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Saturday, April 25 at his daily news briefing in Albany.
The state will continue to expand testing criteria as testing capacity increases.
Cuomo also announced he will issue an executive order allowing more than 5,000 pharmacists to conduct diagnostic testing for COVID-19.
The state is continuing to conduct antibody testing for frontline healthcare workers, including at four hospitals and health care systems in New York City today.
The antibody testing will be conducted at Bellevue Hospital, Elmhurst Hospital Center, Montefiore Medical Center and SUNY Downstate Medical Center which is currently being used only for COVID-19 patients.
Additionally, the state will begin conductI NG antibody testing for first responders and transit workers starting next week, including MTA employees and transit workers, New York State Police and the New York City Police Department.
"We know that testing is a key component of re-opening the economy and getting to a new normal, and New York State is already doing more tests per capita than any state or country," Cuomo said. "We've been working with the federal government to increase the capacity of labs that process these diagnostic tests, and now we need more collection sites so we continue to ramp up our testing across the state.
A total of 10,553 additional cases of COVID-19 have brought the statewide total to 282,143 confirmed cases in New York State.
New York saw a slight increase in newly reported deaths with 437 although positive trends for total hospitalizations and hospitalization rates remained positive. (See images above.)
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