COVID Testing Megasite Coming To NJ: Here’s Where

EAST ORANGE, NJ — Federal officials are bringing a free, mass coronavirus testing site to East Orange to help slow the spread of COVID-19, including the omicron variant. And it will be open to all New Jersey residents, authorities announced Wednesday.

East Orange officials said the city will be partnering with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to run the highly anticipated federal testing site from Saturday, Jan. 1 to Wednesday, Jan. 12. Read More: CDC To Open Mass COVID Testing Site In New Jersey

The site will have the capacity to give up to 1,000 rapid nasal PCR tests per day, with results available in about 24 hours. It will be located at 90 Halsted Street in the city’s Division of Senior Service’s multi-purpose room, and will offer testing for New Jersey residents up to seven days per week from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Free parking will be available at a main lot at Freeway Drive and Halsted Street, with overflow parking available in two additional adjacent lots. East Orange police and other agencies will direct traffic to keep the flow moving as efficiently and safely as possible, officials said.

For questions, more information about the federal COVID-19 testing site or to schedule an appointment, visit www.eovaccine.org.

The new site is part of the CDC’s Increasing Community Access to Testing for COVID-19 Surge Response Effort, which teams up with pharmacies and labs to provide free tests in “underserved communities.”

East Orange, which has a population of 69,612 residents, has been among the hardest-hit municipalities in Essex County when it comes to COVID-19. According to the latest county statistics, the city has seen 11,238 cumulative cases with 341 deaths linked to the disease as of Dec. 29.

• See related article: Boosters In East Orange: City Keeps Trying To Get Shots Into Arms
• See related article: East Orange Mayor Tests Positive For Coronavirus, Will Quarantine
• See related article: Coronavirus Took East Orange Councilman 'To The Brink' And Back

Gov. Phil Murphy tweeted that the testing site will be “an invaluable means to continue mitigating the spread of the pandemic.”

“I thank our federal partners for their continued support and commitment to keeping New Jerseyans healthy,” Murphy added.

Meanwhile, New Jersey health officials have launched a website where people can search for COVID-19 testing facilities across the state. See it here.

Tests are available to anyone in New Jersey; insurance isn't needed.

In addition, the New Jersey Department of Health and Vault Medical Services have partnered to offer a free, at-home COVID-19 saliva test kit that is available to every New Jerseyan who thinks they need a test – even if they don't have symptoms. Learn more here.

To order a free test kit, click here.

EAST ORANGE VS. COVID: ‘THE PANDEMIC IS REAL’

East Orange Mayor Ted Green said the federal testing site will be one of several tools the city is using to combat the spread of the virus.

Other measures include a re-launched face mask mandate in the city, which was done amid an “increase of COVID-19 cases and the emergence of the omicron variant,” the mayor said.

The new mandate went into effect Dec. 22 and will be enforced “until further notice.” It requires all people over 3-years-old in the City of East Orange to wear a mask while in any indoor public facility, and to wear one outdoors when maintaining a proper social distance from others isn’t possible. The mandate includes all residents, visitors, employees and vendors operating within any of the city’s establishments.

Other towns and cities in Essex County have also begun bringing back indoor mask mandates, including Newark, Montclair and South Orange.

• See related article: Masks Are Back: Newark Indoor Mandate Returns As COVID Spikes
• See related article: Montclair Council OKs Indoor Mask Mandate, Cites Omicron Spread

So far this week, the city has seen 255 new cases and another death, Green said. And hopefully, the federal testing site will help turn those numbers around, he added.

“We want to make testing more accessible and convenient for residents, and thanks to the ongoing support of the federal government, we have been provided the means to make that possible,” Green said.

Monique Griffith, director of the city’s Department of Health and Human Services, said the new omicron variant is “spreading more easily,” and numbers of positive cases in East Orange are “rising rapidly.”

“The last two years have impacted us all greatly, but with the recent increase in positive cases, as well as hospitalizations, we cannot get tired or minimize what is occurring,” Griffith said. “The pandemic is real and we have to remain diligent in our efforts to engage all resources and partners to stop the spread.”

“We’ve come too far to not see this through,” Griffith added.

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