CVS, New York partner to expand testing

As New York looks to reopen certain parts of the state, CVS Health is set to play a key role in testing efforts. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Saturday announced a partnership with CVS Health that will bring COVID-19 testing to 60 CVS Pharmacy locations statewide, with each location able to conduct 50 or more tests per day. 

“Throughout this entire pandemic, testing was key to controlling the virus and now it will be key to monitoring the virus as we begin reopening in regions across the state," Cuomo said. "New York has worked aggressively to build a massive statewide sample collection network and is now testing more than any state or country per capita, but our new problem is we have more sites and capacity than we're actually using. The more New Yorkers get tested, the better — and we are going to ensure to all individuals who will return to the workplace in phase one of our reopening plan have access to testing, and we are launching a new website to make it easier for New Yorkers to find nearby testing sites.”

The announcement came as CVS Health is in the midst of a big push to expand its testing capabilities. The Woonsocket, R.I.-based company has said that it plans to have 1,000 testing sites open nationwide by the end of May.

It also comes as New York — which, as of May 17, had seen 350,121 confirmed cases of COVID-19 — expands the criteria for who can get tested. Testing now is available to anyone with symptoms of the novel coronavirus; anyone who has been in contact with someone known to be positive for the virus; anyone under precautionary or mandatory quarantine; health care workers, nursing home workers and first responders; any essential worker who interacts with the public while working; and anyone who would return to work under the state’s first phase of reopening.