January 16, 2022
Like mushrooms after a rainstorm, Covid-19 testing stations have sprung up seemingly everywhere you look in Manhattan recently. There’s a few in and around Times Square, another bunch on 42nd near 6th, and half a dozen more on that strip between 5th and Lex. Near Vanderbilt Ave you’ll see three different test companies’ canopies set up on the sidewalk. And Inwood has several too, including one near the 207th Street subway entrance on the East side of Broadway.
Whatever financial incentives prompted this flurry of “free” enterprise (“you won’t be charged!” read several posted signs at these mobile test sites) may soon decline as the Biden Administration prepares to launch COVIDtests.gov this week. There, according to the website, you’ll be able to order4 DIY COVID-19 tests for free beginning this week. You may still need to go to a mobile or other lab for a test result acceptable for travel, but for your own planning and self quarantine decision making, they should be adequate. Why it’s taken nearly two years to reach this point was not addressed on the website.
