ALBANY, NY and ST. PETERSBURG, FL -- New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says his state is establishing a COVID-19 testing site in St. Petersburg.
Cuomo's office says the site, at Pinellas Community Church on 31st Street So, will provide up to 500 tests per day.
Governor Cuomo says he's paying back a favor, from earlier this year when 30,000 volunteers came to help New York when their COVID-19 crisis was at its worst.
The testing site will use resources from SOMOS Community Care, a network of health providers in four of New York City's five boroughs.
New York State is also sending personal protective equipment, according to the NYS website:
- 124,000 Surgical Masks (50 cases)
- 7,500 VTM Test Kits
- 7,500 Gowns
- 11,500 Gloves
- 7,500 N95 Masks
- 7,500 Face Shields
- 1,250 Gallons of Hand Sanitizer
- 1,200 Sanitizing Wipes
- 120 Goggles
- 10 Closed Circuit Ventilators
- 10 iPads to assist with tele-health needs
"I know I speak for all New Yorkers when I say we will always be grateful for that help that came to us, and we are paying back the favor today by sending PPE to St. Petersburg, where we've worked together to establish a community testing site. We will continue to return the favor and lend help to whoever needs it," Cuomo said.
In addition to the items being donated to St. Petersburg today, New York has donated nearly 250,000 items of PPE and testing materials to other states as they combat the recent spike of COVID in their state. New York is also sending doses of the medication Remdesevir to Florida.
Photo Credit: NYS.gov