SERINO ANNOUNCES COVID-19 TEST KITS AVAILABLE FOR RESIDENTS PLANNING TO VISIT LOVED ONES IN NURSING HOMES

HYDE PARK, NY – With Governor Kathy Hochul now requiring visitors to New York’s nursing homes to test negative for COVID-19 within 24 hours of their visit, Senator Sue Serino recently announced that she would prioritize using her state allotment of COVID-19 test kits to ensure local residents are able to continue visiting their loved ones. Senator Serino today is announcing her plan for distribution.

The bulk of the test kits have been distributed directly to various nursing homes, assisted living facilities and adult care facilities throughout the Senate District. With the state supplying a number of tests directly to New York nursing homes in recent days, Senator Serino has collaborated with county officials in both Dutchess and Putnam to identify facilities in need of additional tests to ensure visitation can continue. Those facilities identified by the counties received tests directly from Serino over the weekend. Senator Serino has reserved 125 tests for local residents who plan to visit loved ones in nursing homes in the near future.

If you are a resident who plans to visit a loved one in a nursing home, and are in need of a test kit to do so, you can call the designated hotline at 914-962-2624 to reserve your kit today. Kits can be picked up this Wednesday, January 19^th, between 11:00am and 1:00pm at either Senator Serino’s Hyde Park office (4254 Albany Post Road, Hyde Park, NY 12538) or at the Putnam Valley Town Hall (265 Oscawana Lake Rd, Putnam Valley, NY 10579).

Tests will be reserved for residents of the 41^st Senate District in the order that their call is received until the supply is exhausted. If a resident is unable to pick up the kit at the designated time above, Senator Serino’s office will do its best to accommodate a pick-up time that works for the individual. Local residents must call to reserve a kit.

“Too often throughout this pandemic, these residents and their loved ones have been treated as an afterthought by the state, which is why I want to be sure that I am doing all I can to make their needs a top priority with this effort,” said Senator Serino. “Isolation can be devastating for these residents, and doing what we can to ensure safe visitation can continue is key to ensuring the health and safety of these vulnerable New Yorkers. I will continue doing all that I can to ensure that our community has access to the resources we need to get through this latest wave of COVID-19.”

Senator Sue Serino is the Ranking Member of the State Senate’s Committee on Aging and has been an outspoken voice for nursing home residents and their loved ones throughout the pandemic.

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