CityMD clinics in NYC to temporarily close over staffing issues

Thirteen CityMD clinics across New York City – all of which offer COVID-19 testing – will temporarily close beginning Wednesday due to staffing concerns, according to the company.

The closures will affect locations in every borough except Staten Island and come as private and public coronavirus testing sites in the city have been overwhelmed with demand amid the Omicron surge.

“As so many of you are aware, most CityMD locations are operating at full capacity, doing our best to meet the urgent care needs of the people of New York and New Jersey,” the company said in a message posted to their website.

“Continuing to provide these services to the community is a top priority; however, our physicians and teammates are also a priority. To preserve our ability to staff our sites, we are temporarily closing certain locations effective [Wednesday,” the statement said.

The closures include three locations each in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens and four in Manhattan.

New Yorkers line up for blocks while waiting for a CityMD health clinic to open on Dec. 18, 2021.
REUTERS

The full list of temporary closures can be found here.

As lines grew last week at testing sites in the Big Apple, de Blasio announced a plan to mass distribute free rapid coronavirus tests to city households.

Lines form outside CityMD Urgent Care for Covid testing in Lower Manhattan in New York on Friday, December 17, 2021.
Several CityMD clinics in Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens and Manhattan will be affected by the temporary closures.
Richard B. Levine/Levine Roberts via ZUMA Press

President Biden also announced Tuesday that his administration is launching federally run testing sites in New York City and other areas bogged down by demand.

The Omicron variant is responsible for about three-fourths of all new COVID-19 cases in the US – and 92 percent of new infections in New York and New Jersey, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday.

People wait in line to get tested for COVID-19 at CityMd near Central Park on Friday, Dec. 17, 2021, in New York.
The temporary closure of CityMD clinics comes amid soaring demand for COVID-19 testing in New York City.
AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura

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