Jersey City will be providing free COVID-19 testing for every resident regardless if they have symptoms. The city will also be including antibody testing.

There is a handful of testing sites open across the city already, including one at the public safety headquarters on Marin Boulevard. Jersey City health officials have also implemented a mobile testing option for the city’s vulnerable residents

State and local leaders say that increased testing capacity is the key to reopening the state following the pandemic.

“From our standpoint, the best thing to do is be more proactive and get more testing to get more people information so they can act responsibly,” Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop says. “All the testing is too important to opening the local economy. The more we do that, the more information people have and the more comfortable people will be.”

 

Other municipalities in the state have also opened COVID-19 testing to all residents. But Jersey City is the first in the nation to also offer antibody testing. This will tell a person if they have already been infected and possibly immune to the virus. Jersey City will be using tax dollars to pay for a $1 million-contract with Bio Reference Labs, which is why the testing is only available to Jersey City residents.

“Testing is key to reopening. Our plan is that we are willing to spend our own money – but we are asking FEMA for reimbursement,” Fulop says.

There are three walk-up testing sites in the city. Mobile testing will be available at senior living facilities and housing authority locations.

“Older people and the compromised immune are more vulnerable and it’s important you have protocols in place that have safeguards,” says Fulop.

About 2,100 COVID-19 and 2,100 antibody tests can be conducted per week. More information about testing can be found on the city’s website. Residents must make an appointment.