New Testing Clinic Opens In Rockland County

Lanning Taliaferro
Updated ·2 min read

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — New York State has launched a new diagnostic testing site in Ramapo, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday.

He said the testing site was needed because the Ramapo community has been so severely affected by COVID-19. The clinic is being run in partnership with Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern.

The center is made possible by a partnership involving New York State, the Town Of Ramapo, Good Samaritan Hospital, Rockland County Legislator Toney L. Earl, the Village Of Spring Valley and the Spring Valley Chapter of the NAACP.

The free testing is available to all, regardless of insurance or immigration status, county legislative officials said.

COVID-19 symptoms can include a temperature of 100.5 degrees or higher, severe shortness of breath, a persistent cough, muscle aches, loss of appetite, diarrhea, and/or the loss of smell or taste.

Of the 672 deaths that have occurred due to COVID-19 in Rockland County, the highest number – 132 – has been recorded in the Spring Valley 10977 zip code, an area that also includes Chestnut Ridge, Hillcrest and New Square.

That community has also had the most cases. Of the 13,798 reported cases of COVID-19 in Rockland County, the highest number – 3,014 – has been recorded in the 10977 zip code, representing about 4.67 percent of its 64,535 residents.

The testing site is at the Town of Ramapo Cultural Arts Center, 64 North Main St., Spring Valley.

The clinic will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Call 1-888-364-3065 to schedule a free testing appointment.


Source: Rockland County
Source: Rockland County

There have been 672 deaths in Rockland County due to COVID-19, out of a total of 13,806 confirmed cases as of Tuesday.

There were five new cases in the county Tuesday, according to state officials.

In a news briefing Wednesday morning, Cuomo said New York is doing very well as of day 144 of the outbreak, with the positivity rate at just over 1 percent. However, he is concerned about the growing number of COVID-19 cases across the country.

"We hate to see other Americans suffering," he said. "Also there is a COVID ricochet effect that we're now seeing where the infection rate will just bounce throughout the country. To say New York will be fine when you see the increases in Florida, Texas, Arizona, California. We know that's not the case. We know that the infection rate travels across the country because people are mobile and the virus travels with people."


This article originally appeared on the New City Patch