NYC cultural landmarks and public libraries will distribute free at-home Covid testing kits
Image courtesy of Gerardo Romo/NYC Council Media Unit on Flickr
The NYC Test & Trace Corps has partnered with 14 city cultural sites and 27 branches of the city’s public libraries to hand out free at-home covid-19 testing kits. Starting on February 14, libraries across the city’s three branches and cultural sites will be conducting weekly walk-up distributions of the free kits, which will be distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis with a limit of one per person.
Cultural sites in the Bronx participating in the new program include the Bronx Museum of the Arts and Wave Hill. In Brooklyn, tests will be distributed at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Weeksville Heritage Center. In Staten Island, the Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden, the Staten Island Children’s Museum, and the Staten Island Zoo.
In Manhattan, tests can be found at the American Museum of Natural History, the El Museo del Barrio, and The Museum of the City of New York. In Queens, tests will be distributed at Flushing Town Hall, the Queens Botanical Garden, and the Queens Theatre.
For the seven Brooklyn Public Library branches participating in the new program, free tests can be picked up Tuesdays and Thursdays between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. The ten New York Public Library branches giving out tests will be doing so Monday through Friday between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m.
In Queens, tests can be picked up at any of the participating branches on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m, and Thursday from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m., except at the Central Library branch.
“Throughout the pandemic, New York City’s libraries – trusted public institutions in all five boroughs – have strongly supported the City’s ongoing work to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, connecting New Yorkers with the resources they need to keep themselves and their communities healthy and safe,” The New York Public, Brooklyn Public, and Queens Public libraries said.
“Ensuring at-home tests are readily available is an important part of this fight, and we are pleased to support these efforts. We hope to see New Yorkers at our branches to pick up a test…and a book.”
Test and Trace will provide daily updates on its testing website that include the hours and pick-up locations of the cultural cites and library branches. Additional sites will be announced in the coming weeks.
Many public library branches are also offering Pfizer vaccinations to children aged 5 to 11 in select branches across the city.
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