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COVID-19 testing: Where to find an appointment or test on Long Island

By Erin Serpico[email protected]Updated

December 29, 2021 7:20 PM

Long Island has been hit hard by this winter surge of coronavirus cases and the omicron variant.

Residents have struggled to find COVID-19 testing appointments or have stood in long lines at urgent care centers to try to get a test. The CityMD urgent care chain temporarily shut some locations in part because they were inundated with people asking for tests, the company said.

In addition to urgent care centers and medical offices, more COVID-19 testing sites have recently opened around the region — and we compiled some options for you to book an appointment or get a test. For a starting point, New York State offers this searchable tool to find a test site near your location. Take a look at some of the other suggestions below.

Try finding an appointment at a state-run site. The state’s online scheduling portal for COVID-19 tests went live this week, offering appointments at 13 new testing sites, two of which are on Long Island. Appointments at these sites can only be made at appointments.bioreference.com/nystatecovidtesting — not by calling the sites directly.

• IBEW Local 25 in Hauppauge will have appointments Mondays through Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Kennedy Memorial Park in Hempstead will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Check what the counties are offering. On Thursday, Nassau County will distribute 20,000 at-home COVID-19 test kits to county residents at a drive-through event starting at 10 a.m. at Mitchel Field in Uniondale. Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone had announced three new testing sites that will operate on a first-come, first-served basis. Baseline Health and Reef Technologies will administer rapid antigen COVID-19 tests at the following sites:

• Heckscher State Park, Field 8 at 1 Heckscher State Parkway in East Islip is open. It operates Monday to Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a testing capacity of up to 1,000 tests a day.
• Red Creek Park at 102 Old Riverhead Road in Hampton Bays will open Jan. 3. It operates Mondays only from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. with a testing capacity of up to 500 tests a day.
• Cathedral Pines County Park at 116 Yaphank Middle Island Road in Middle Island will open Jan. 4. It operates Tuesdays and Fridays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a testing capacity of up to 500 tests per day.

Find an appointment at a Northwell Health site. Northwell Health opened two appointment-only, drive-thru testing sites on Long Island. They operate Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and appointments can be made online at northwell.edu/coronavirus-covid-19/pcr-testing. They can accommodate up to 500 people per day:

• Christopher Morley Park at 500 Searington Rd. North in Roslyn.
• Across from the Peconic Bay Medical Center campus at 1225 Ostrander Ave. in Riverhead.

These drive-through locations offer rapid polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests that people self-administer in their cars, then return to officials for processing with Northwell’s Lab Gold testing software.

Check your local pharmacy. Several pharmacies offer different types of COVID-19 tests and many require making appointments ahead of time. You can look online for testing appointments at places like Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid.

Look in New York City. New York City-run test sites are open to anyone regardless of residency. You can find one with the resources at nyc.gov/covidtest, which include mobile, pop-up and rapid-testing sites.

Take a look at some options for at-home tests. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued emergency-use authorization for several at-home COVID-19 tests, some of which require a prescription or may be over the counter. The agency lists the molecular tests and antigen tests that have received EUA on its website.

This is not an exhaustive list, and the FDA says any test could result in false negatives or positives and recommends seeking care from health care professionals if you test negative and have symptoms.

Here are some options that may be found in drugstores or online, although some tests may be out of stock due to availability and high demand:

• Abbott BinaxNOW COVID-19 Antigen Self Test: This kit comes with two tests and is taken by nasal swabs in people ages 15 and up — or 2 years and up with swabs collected by an adult, according to the company website. The website indicates both tests are meant for testing twice within three days, with at least 36 hours in between them. Results appear in 15 minutes. It may be found in stores like CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid or Walmart.
• Quidel QuickVue At-Home COVID-19 Test: This antigen test can be used by self-collecting a nasal swab by people 14 and up, or 2 and older if collected by an adult, according to the company website. It’s designed to be used within six days of symptoms appearing and includes two tests to use over three days. Results appear within 10 minutes, the website states. It may be found in stores like CVS, Walgreens or Walmart.
• ACON Laboratories Flowflex COVID-19 Home Test: This over-the-counter antigen test also uses a nasal swab and can be used in people ages 14 and up, or 2 and up if collected by an adult. Results appear in 15 minutes, the website states. This kit may be found at CVS or Walgreens.

By Erin Serpico[email protected]

Erin Serpico is an assistant web producer who joined Newsday in November 2018. Originally from New Jersey, she now covers community events and produces local content for newsday.com while also helping run the homepage.