Hoboken Uptown Coronavirus Testing Center Moves To New Location

HOBOKEN, NJ — A Hoboken-based residential developer has partnered with the city to move the uptown coronavirus testing center to a warehouse two blocks away for winter, starting this weekend.

Mayor Ravi Bhalla, Dr. Raj Brahmbhatt of Riverside Medical Group, and local developer Bijou Properties announced Friday that the center would move to Bijou's warehouse in the northwesternmost corner of town, rent-free.

Since the coronavirus pandemic began, the city and Riverside have been running an outdoor location close to the city's northern border and a mile from the Lincoln Tunnel, where residents could drive or walk up and get a rapid test.

The location administered more than 15,000 tests through at the height of the crisis. Former "Big Brother" reality TV star Michelle Maradie, a Hoboken mom, was among those who shared her testing experience in spring.

Bijou is donating use of their 25,000 square foot warehouse and 30,000 square foot parking lot at 351 16th St. for the location (at the corner of Clinton and 16th streets).

The city explained in a press release Friday how residents can access the new location (after registering online): "Hoboken residents and Riverside Medical Group patients without a vehicle should enter the new testing facility on Clinton Street between 15thand 16th streets. Residents and patients driving to the facility should enter on 16thStreet between Clinton Street and Grand Street."

Testing at the location is by appointment only for Hoboken residents, available at http://www.hobokennj.gov/riverside. No walk-ins are permitted. Hoboken residents who are Riverside Medical Group patients should continue to call their Riverside primary care office for an appointment, and should not sign up for a test online.

The new site was set to open Saturday, Nov. 28, and the previous location under the 14th Street Viaduct will close.

Dr. Brahmbhatt said, “We are proud to play a central role in Hoboken in providing one of the few rapid testing sites in the area, and the Bijou facility will help us continue to provide this service to residents and our patients.”

Bhalla said, “This new space will help protect the Riverside staff and residents during the winter weather, and provide more efficient testing for our city. Thank you also to our Office of Emergency Management, the Department of Health and the Department of Environmental Services for working throughout the week with the Riverside and Bijou teams on the new site, as well as Hudson County for providing the previous space under the 14thStreet Viaduct.”

Previous information

A week ago Friday, Bhalla announced that in advance of Thanksgiving week, the city has partnered with several local pharmacies and firms to make more coronavirus testing available.

He also said 32 new cases were reported in the mile-square city on Thursday, Nov. 19 — the highest one-day increase in the city of 53,000 people since the beginning of the pandemic.

Bhalla said at the time that the mile-square city had had 1,264 confirmed cases since the beginning of the pandemic. Of those, he said, 1,047 residents were confirmed by the Hoboken Health Department as having fully recovered.

A total of 31 Hoboken residents have passed away from coronavirus.

Hoboken was one of the first cities in the region to begin closing facilities when the virus began spreading in the U.S.

In June, after months of closures and isolation, the city went a week with only one case, and in August, there were only six cases in one week. But cases began rising in autumn with more gatherings.

More than 2,500 hospitalizations statewide

Statewide, cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are rising. A week ago Friday, Gov. Phil Murphy said the state had reached 14,900 deaths of residents due to the virus. Murphy said there were 2,505 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in New Jersey as of Friday, with 452 in intensive care and 233 on ventilators.

A week ago Thursday, the state said that 34 people had passed away due to the virus in the last 24 hours.

But the death rate was lower than in late April, when it reached 460 residents in 24 hours on April 30, or one fatality every three minutes.

Doctors have said that a number of factors are contributing to the drop in the New Jersey daily death rate since spring, including people getting test results (and thus treatment) sooner, more protective equipment available in hospitals, and doctors becoming better able to treat the virus. However, the virus still can have long-term effects.

Here is more information on Hoboken coronavirus testing, statistics, schools, and more:

CORONAVIRUS TESTING IN HOBOKEN

• Prompt MD has added additional testing. Proof of residency or employment at a Hoboken business is required at the time of testing. Results are anticipated within 24-48 hours of testing. http://www.hobokennj.gov/promptmd.
• Riverside Medical is also continuing testing for Hoboken residents. Appointments can be scheduled on a first-come, first-serve basis by visiting http://www.hobokennj.gov/riverside. If a resident has signed up for a test with Riverside but can no longer make it, please call 201-863-3346 to cancel the appointment.
• A covid-19 test is recommended at least 5-7 days after a potential exposure, and that many who have contracted the virus do not have symptoms. Receiving a COVID-19 test prior to the 5-7 days after a potential exposure may yield inaccurate results.
• If returning from a state on New Jersey's quarantine list or have had a high-risk exposure, which includes contact of over 10 minutes to someone who has tested positive, living in the same household as someone with COVID-19 or attending a large indoor gathering without face masks, residents should self-quarantine for the full 14 days, even with a negative test result, the city says.

HOBOKEN SCHOOLS

• The schools remain remote for at least one week after Thanksgiving break. Read more here.
• Hoboken's Wallace Primary School recently closed temporarily after two student cases were confirmed.
• Mayor Bhalla wrote three weeks ago, "Our Health Department has confirmed that our schools are taking every possible safety measure to keep our children safe, and that there is little evidence that the schools themselves are the reason for covid-19 spread, as opposed to behavior outside the school."
• Recently, one of the city's charter schools, Elysian Charter, closed temporarily because a student tested positive for the virus.
• The Hoboken public schools started the 2020-2021 school year Monday, Sept. 14 remotely, and reopened on-site Sept. 21 for those who requested it.
• The district offered a reopening plan giving parents a choice of either full-time on-site learning (until 3 p.m.) or full-time distance learning. In the buildings, there are restrictions, such as kids wearing masks and maintaining a 6-foot distance.

LOCAL BUSINESS

• As of Friday, Nov. 20, people must give contact information to bars, restaurants, gyms, and certain other businesses when they stay inside, for contract tracing purposes. READ MORE.
• More than 50 of the city's restaurants opened the week of June 15 for outdoor dining. READ MORE.
• Some of those have added "streateries" for outdoor dining. READ MORE.
• The city of Hoboken is making it easier for restaurants to continue to offer outdoor dining through the winter months.
• Two of the city's weekly farmers' markets reopened in June. READ MORE.
• The city has been closing off certain blocks for businesses to expand and draw foot traffic. READ MORE.
• Restaurants in New Jersey can allow indoor dining at 25 percent capacity, and keep serving indoors until 10 p.m. Read more about Hoboken indoor dining here.

HOBOKEN LIBRARY

• See story here.

HOW TO GET HELP WITH HEAT, RENT, AND MORE

• During the State of Emergency in New Jersey, no tenant is permitted to be evicted from their home or apartment for the inability to pay rent. Talk to your local mayor's office if you are experiencing difficulties.
• The CARES act has made money available to help with rent in each city. More information is here.
• New Jersey residents can get help with heating and energy bills. Information is here.
• Various other avenues of relief and benefits have also been made available, including family leave for 12 weeks if you can't work due to your child's school or camp being closed, and changes to unemployment rules to help those who were at a job for a short time, or freelancing.
• Programs are being added constantly, so don't think you can't get help. Reach out to your local mayor's office to find out what kind of funds may be available to help you get through this time.

LONG-TERM CARE

• Recently, there were 159 long term care facilities with active outbreaks, the state Department of Health said this month. The state also announced that deaths at the facilities had more than doubled since May 1. The state has stopped updating the numbers at facilities without current outbreaks.
• New Jersey residents were already alarmed at the high number of residents who have passed away in nursing homes, rehabs, and similar facilities. The state announced plans in May to increase testing at some long term care facilities and to bring in the National Guard temporarily to help make changes.
• The state released death toll statistics late in spring for long-term care facilities like rehabs and nursing homes. See the list here.
• You can report problems with long term care facilities here, or if you suspect coronavirus related misconduct, here.
• Some New Jersey long-term care facilities reopened for limited visits, with precautions, in July.

PAST LOCAL AND NATIONAL STATISTICS

• Bhalla said on Tuesday, Oct. 20, that 22 Hoboken residents had been confirmed as testing positive for coronavirus in a four-day period from Friday to Monday inclusive, for a total of 890 cases among residents since the start of the pandemic. Bhalla said that cases were rising again partly due to indoor social gatherings.
• More than 250,000 Americans have died from the virus.
• More than 900 health care workers have died of the virus nationally. Others are simultaneously fighting misinformation and hoaxes as they try to fight the virus.

• Mayor Bhalla recent cautioned residents about indoor birthday parties and traveling to Ocean and Monmouth counties. Story here.
• For an earlier story about Hoboken coronavirus statistics and updates, click here.
• See earlier data here.
• Here are past statistics on Hoboken residents under 16 testing positive for the virus.

Here are statewide coronavirus resources:

• NJ COVID-19 Information Hub: https://covid19.nj.gov/
• General COVID-19 questions: 2-1-1
• NJ COVID-19 hotline: (800) 222-1222

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