HIGHBRIDGE, N.Y. – The Bronx continues to see some of the highest COVID-19 positivity rates across New York City and it’s something that Vanessa Gibson, the new Bronx borough president, is making a priority.
Gibson, in her first week in action since holding the new title, handed out masks to people waiting in line to get tested at a site in Highbridge on Wednesday.
“Having access to rapid testing sites right in your own community is a part of our overall effort to tackle COVID-19 head-on,” Gibson said. “It’s important for every Bronxite to understand the importance of getting tested as frequently as you can.”
The borough has the highest COVID positivity rate across the city at 28 percent. Gibson’s office says Highbridge and the surrounding neighborhoods are seeing positive rates of nearly 50 percent.
They’ve teamed up with other local elected officials, including councilmembers Diana Ayala and Althea Stevens, and partnered with Test & Trace Corps to make tests more available by creating a site at the corner of Ogden Avenue and W. 164th Street.
“There is no cost,” Gibson added. “We want it to be accessible, convenient, culturally-sensitive with language access and diversity so that it meets our needs today.”
The site is actually the home of social services organization Bridge Builders. Director Gabriela Silverio says residents kept showing up at the storefront asking where they could get a test.
“We don’t have many of the urgent cares in this area or clinics,” Silverio said. “We only have one clinic four blocks away.”
They’ve teamed up with multiple partners to make this happen, but right now, they’re only scheduled to be open until the weekend. That may change though after seeing the need with people standing in the rain to get tested.
“We are looking to extend it because, as you see, the community’s responding,” Silverio said.
The South Bronx was the epicenter of the epicenter when the pandemic first hit, so in many ways, it feels like we’re back at square one.
Citycouncilmember Althea Stevens says more should’ve been done for the area when this first happened.
“We had a lot of death rates,” Steven said, “We had a lot of covid infection outbreaks in this part of the bronx and so we should’ve made this a priority to ensure that we had adequate testing and accessibility in this community.”
This testing site is proof that the community looks out for its own.