When it became clear early in the pandemic that limited testing capacity would be an ongoing problem, city officials took the matter into their own hands.
By September, they created the Epidemic Response Laboratory, which is now operating at almost full capacity and is being hailed as a success story.
“This is a homegrown solution,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said. "I want to be clear. This does not exist. It was enacted by New Yorkers in response to the coronavirus in New York City."
On Wednesday, the mayor toured the lab, which is currently processing 15,000 to 20,000 tests per day and has a current capacity of 30,000 cases. The state-of-the-art facility, run by Brooklyn-based robotics company Opentrons, allows New Yorkers to get test results within 24 to 48 hours.
The mayor said this is crucial to plans for weekly testing of the city's schools.
"We cannot reopen schools without such facilities. The Epidemic Response Laboratory has assured us that tens of thousands of tests can be completed and processed every day," he said.
Overall, the city is currently conducting more than 75,000 coronavirus tests per day, a number the mayor hopes will expand to closer to 100,000 as cases continue to surge, driving demand.
City officials say another benefit of the pandemic response lab is its affordability: Each test costs about $28, compared with the $100 per test at most state labs.
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