Suffolk County is opening a COVID-19 testing site in Hampton Bays that will replace a previous site at Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, officials said.
The site at Red Creek Park, located at 102 Old Riverhead Road, will have 500 tests available for school-required testing and community testing on Mondays only from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It’s one of three that the county opened in virus hotspots as the Omicron variant drives a spike in cases.
“What we have learned so far is that the Omicron variant is highly transmittable and causing a spike in our daily positivity rate,” said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. “Testing is one of the best tools we have when it comes to containing the spread of this virus.”
Bellone noted that while cases are at the highest the county has seen in more than a year, 90 percent of adults in Suffolk are fully vaccinated, likely protecting them from severe illness. Last year at this time, Suffolk’s hospitals had 527 COVID-19 patients while as of December 21 there were 326 patients hospitalized for COVID in Suffolk. Bellone encouraged those who are vaccinated to now receive a booster shot to protect them from illness from the Omicron variant.
The other two Suffolk test sites will be at Hecksher State Park, Field 8 in East Islip from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and at Cathedral Pines County Park in Medford from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Vaccination sites and information about the vaccines can be found at suffolkcountyny.gov/vaccine.
