New County COVID-19 Testing Schedule
From the Office of County Executive Steve McLaughlin
Rensselaer County will continue testing for COVID-19 (coronavirus) with a modified schedule County Executive Steve McLaughlin announced on Wednesday, July 22.
The county will continue to partner with The IMA Group next week. Testing will be conducted two days a week, on Mondays and Wednesdays, from 9 am to 5 pm each day, for the foreseeable future. (During the past few weeks, testing was done on Tuesdays and Wednesdays).
Note: Testing will only be done at the IMA site for those who are symptomatic. Those who are not symptomatic are advised to contact the state site operating at the University at Albany at 888-364-3065.
The testing facility with The IMA Group will be moved from its current home at Hudson Valley Community College to the parking area at Van Rensselaer Manor Rehabilitation & Nursing. Appointments are recommended, and can be made by calling IMA at 800-245-4245.
There has been a considerable drop-off in testing in recent weeks in the county. Other counties are also believed to be in the process of modifying schedules for testing. The cost for testing at the county level is expensive.
“This new schedule will allow Rensselaer County to continue testing residents who want to be tested, but avoid some unnecessary costs,” said McLaughlin.
The county started expansive and daily testing on weekdays on May 5, with the county footing a significant bill for the testing. The testing was started after weeks of effort by McLaughlin lobbying state officials for test kits. Eventually, every supervisor and mayor from each of the county’s 22 municipalities joined in the request for expanded testing, along with every member of the 19-member Rensselaer County Legislature.
The county partnered with The IMA Group and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Health Center for testing. Whitney M. Young, Jr. Health Center recently halted testing due to a drop-off in demand.
The county has now administered over 20,000 tests.
County COVID-19 Update
As of Wednesday afternoon, July 22, Rensselaer County has confirmed 716 cases of COVID-19 with 83 active cases. 18 of these are hospitalized, though none are in intensive care. 600 cases have been cleared.