Borough of Bergenfield to Open Local COVID-19 Testing Site for Residents
Borough of Bergenfield to Open Local COVID-19 Testing Site for Residents
Tests Will Be Offered to Both Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Residents in Order to More Accurately Track COVID-19 Infections
BERGENFIELD, N.J. — The Borough of Bergenfield will soon be launching a local COVID-19 testing site that will be open to residents showing symptoms of the virus as well as those without symptoms. The site will be located in Veteran’s Memorial Park and it will offer both nasal swab and saliva testing in a drive up setting. The site is being jointly operated by the Borough and siParadigm Diagnostic Informatics Lab, a private testing laboratory that will process the results.
Operating hours for the testing facility will begin Saturday, May 2nd for Borough employees, Borough first responders and family members of first responders who reside in their homes only. The facility will officially open to the public on Monday, May 4th from 9:00 a.m. — 3:00 p.m., seven days per week. Testing appointments will be limited on the first days of operation and the site is expected to be able to accept its full capacity by the week of May 11th. Testing will be offered by appointment only and you must drive to the testing facility by entering Memorial Field using the Melrose Avenue entrance.
To reserve an appointment residents must text the word “registration” to 201-267-2488 or go to https://www.siparadigm-
“Bergenfield has been one of the hardest hit communities in the state and although we are seeing many encouraging signs we want to be sure that anyone infected with COVID-19 is aware of the situation and given the proper directions to self quarantine in order to protect themselves and others,” said Mayor Arvin Amatorio. “Testing asymptomatic individuals is a major step forward and we are proud that Bergenfield will be the first municipality in Bergen County to offer this service.”
COVID-19 testing is covered by Medicare, Medicaid and all private health insurance plans with no out of pocket costs. Residents who do not have health insurance may be eligible for assistance in paying for testing and should contact the Borough Administrator’s office for more information.
“We began testing on Saturday and Sunday with our staff and first responders as a soft opening to ensure the testing site operation runs smoothly and can accommodate as many residents as possible. With any new and complex operation, issues will undoubtedly arise so we ask the community to please be patient through this process as the operation adjusts to becoming fully functional,” said Borough Administrator Corey Gallo. “This new data will allow our Health Department to engage in more aggressive contact tracing and isolation, all of which is essential to lowering the rate of COVID-19 to a point where we can begin to resume more of our normal activities.”
####