The city of Hoboken has shut down its public COVID-19 testing site as demand for testing has decreased.

Hoboken and Riverside Medical Group teamed up early in the pandemic to provide rapid COVID-19 testing for city residents. The site paved the way for similar facilities nationwide.

“We were among the first cities in the country to get a 15-minute rapid test back in the day when it was difficult to do so,” says Mayor Ravi Bhalla.

The site closed down because not as many people were coming in to be tested as they were at the start of the pandemic.

“It’s really exciting to see...the light at the end of the tunnel. Not the end by any means, but it’s nice to see we are wrapping this type of demand up,” says Riverside Medical’s Dr. Raj Brahmbhatt.

Riverside Medical Group operated and staffed the drive-thru and walk-up site along with volunteers from the city's CERT team. About 60,000 tests were administered in all. About 400 tests were given a day at the height of the pandemic. Now it is down to about 50 tests. Testing will now be done at health care offices.

Officials say that the shuttering of the testing site is a reason to celebrate – not just a big step forward in the battle against the virus, but also the partnership that helped get us there.

“We aligned together at the right time, in the right place. We had the supplies, they had the locations. We came together and both leadership on both sides made it happen with the people on the ground,” Brahmbhatt says.

Riverside Medical will keep its Secaucus testing site open a bit longer for those who still need to get testing.