New York City hospitals ensure access to COVID-19 services past end of public health emergency

Pandemic testing and treatment options that New Yorkers have relied upon for three years will continue to be available after the official expiration of the federal emergency on May 11. NYC Health + Hospitals, which operates the public hospitals and clinics in New York City, announced plans to ensure New Yorkers continue to have the access to COVID-19 testing, vaccination, and treatment, as well as services to address Long COVID in all five boroughs. Hospital-based walk-in testing tents and mobile Test to Treat units will transition to permanent services inside the public health care system’s hospitals and community-based outpatient care centers.

The city's 212-COVID19 hotline will remain in operation, and at-home test kits are still available at over a thousand locations across the city, including all libraries.

Mitchell Katz, M.D., president and CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals, said, “We can now transition the Test & Treat Corps emergency operations knowing that we have built a stronger, more responsive public health care system that can provide the appropriate level of services to our communities and seamlessly preserve access to the COVID-19 testing, vaccination, and treatment New Yorkers may need for as long as we need it.”