New York Urgent Care Wait Times Soar as Holidays Approach

As new “yellow zones” pop up across New York, including Long Island, New Yorkers prepare for the upcoming holidays.

In a press conference, Governor Cuomo spoke on the steady increase of positive COVID-19 cases across multiple counties in New York.

“We need a reality check because these are dangerous times that we're in. The COVID rate, number of deaths, number of hospitalizations, everything we watch all day on TV, is all a function of our actions. There is no predetermined result here…”, Governor Cuomo commented.

Cuomo also mentioned that while New York is only at a 3% increase in cases, and there are other states that are still lower than New York, caution should be taken.

Neighborhoods in Southern Staten Island will transition into an orange zone as cases continue to rise again in that concentrated area. Businesses and Urgent Care Centers are now preparing new operations again to accommodate the increasing positivity rates surrounding them.

Lines stretched and wait times soared at local CityMD and ProHealth Urgent Care Centers in Southern Staten Island as Thanksgiving approaches.

One New Yorker commented, “I guess everybody is just trying to test negative so they can go to their family’s house for Thanksgiving. That’s not necessarily something I’d do. We’ve all gotta be careful still.”

Fifty miles away on Long Island, the same scenes can be spotted at local Urgent Care centers. A CityMD in Plainview, New York held a line of 20-25 people. The line itself wrapped around the parking lot and onto the sidewalk.

“We have an increasing rate and you just care about yourself so that you can go to a huge Thanksgiving party? That’s just selfish…” a frustrated Urgent Care patron mentioned to us.

While Staten Island has a higher number of cases, counties like Nassau and Suffolk are also experiencing new “hotspots”. Massapequa Park and Great Neck were listed under the new focus areas in Nassau County as yellow zones have been established in and around those two communities. In Suffolk County, Hampton Bays and Riverhead also have been established in a yellow zone according to Governor Cuomo.