Queens Site Starts Offering 15-Minute Rapid Coronavirus Tests

WOODSIDE, QUEENS — A city-run coronavirus testing site on the Astoria-Woodside border has started offering 15-minute rapid tests, officials said Tuesday.

The testing site in the former Sports Authority parking lot, at 51-30 Northern Blvd., will offer rapid antigen tests in addition to the PCR test already being administered there, NYC Health + Hospitals spokesperson Christopher R. Miller told Patch.

Individuals can choose which test they want to take, according to the spokesperson.

The antigen tests can offer results within minutes, because analysis happens on-site, but they are likelier to miss an active COVID-19 infection than the molecular PCR test, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which is in charge of authorizing medical products.

The Northern Boulevard testing site has the capacity to test hundreds of people each day. It is walk-in only and is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Contact tracers and so-called "resource navigators" will be available to assist anyone who tests positive.

On Tuesday, the first day the Northern Boulevard site started offering the rapid tests, so many people sought out testing that there was already a backlog, a Wall Street Journal reporter waiting on the line tweeted.

Those waiting were instead offered the not-so-rapid PCR test, if they did not want to wait longer for a rapid test, the Health + Hospitals spokesperson said.

"Rapid testing is occasionally paused to ensure there’s no backlog of tests," Miller, the spokesperson, wrote in an email to Patch. "We did not stop offering the test; however, patients on line would have to wait a bit longer to get the test."

The addition of rapid testing at the Northern Boulevard site comes as coronavirus positivity rates rise in parts of Western Queens, including the 11377 ZIP code where the site is located and nearby areas of Astoria and Elmhurst, according to city data.

That means a higher percentage of people getting tested are turning out positive for COVID-19.

City Council Member Costa Constantinides, who represents Astoria, said Monday that he is working with the city to launch more testing sites in the neighborhood in light of the recent trend.