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New York Expands Virus Testing Criteria, Allows Pharmacies to Do Tests

The New York governor will sign an executive order allowing 5,000 pharmacies to do diagnostic tests.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo will sign an executive order expanding coronavirus testing criteria and allowing independent pharmacies to conduct diagnostic tests. During a press conference on Saturday, the governor said he was allowing the state’s 5,000 smaller independent pharmacies to become collection sites for coronavirus tests in order to expand testing as the state weighs how to carefully reopen businesses. “That will quickly ramp up our collection capacity,” Cuomo said. The governor also added that the state was expanding diagnostic testing criteria to allow first responders, healthcare workers, and all essential workers to easily get tested. He added that antibody tests will be rolled out to frontline staff in four hospitals on Saturday. While New York remains the site of the largest coronavirus outbreak in the US, over the past week, the state has begun to see some signs that the spread of the virus may be slowing.