Prognosis
NYC Faces Covid-Testing Crunch Amid Rush to Reopen Idled Sites
- New Yorkers face hours-long lines for tests before holidays
- High Covid rates hitting affluent Manhattan neighborhoods
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New York City officials defended a move to shut down Covid-19 testing sites before the omicron surge because of a lack of demand, pledging to ramp up testing again over the coming week.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city had seen demand drop at some sites and moved to a focus on mobile testing vans, but the spread of the omicron variant caught the city by surprise. That, coupled with a surge in people seeking tests ahead of the holidays, have led to hours-long lines across the city.