Saint Peter's Ends COVID Testing Due To ER Increase In Patients

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — Due to an increasing number of COVID patients now coming into the ER, Saint Peter's University Hospital announced Wednesday they are permanent closing down the rapid drive-through COVID testing the hospital offered in its parking lot.

On Wednesday, all RWJ Barnabas hospitals in New Jersey said the same thing, telling anyone who comes to their ER that the emergency department is for sick people — not those seeking tests.

The testing is being shut down at Saint Peter's immediately effective Wednesday.

"After much deliberation, the hospital has decided that this is in the best interest of patients and the community, as it will allow the organization to concentrate personnel and equipment where it is needed most, in the Emergency Department, which has been seeing an increased volume of patients who are symptomatic as a result of the omicron variant," said Saint Peter's in a statement.

Saint Peter's University Hospital is the Catholic hospital located in New Brunswick.

This is now happening across the state: A pharmacy in Long Valley stopped offering the testing Wednesday, saying they had to focus on giving out vaccine and booster shots instead. And a pop-up test site in Sparta has many test employees currently out with COVID.

While Saint Peter's did not provide exact numbers on how many COVID cases are now coming into the ER, the hospital did say Wednesday the cases are "rising."

The hospital said it needs to focus its resources on patients with severe or prolonged COVID symptoms.

"Individuals who suspect they have been or who are known to have been exposed to COVID-19 and are experiencing mild to no symptoms are urged to seek testing at one of New Jersey's state-sanctioned testing sites," said the hospital.

The state of New Jersey and the CDC are supposed to open a mass, centrally-located testing sometime in the near future, as Patch reported Tuesday. A location has not yet been revealed.

To find a COVID testing location in the state, visit New Jersey's COVID Information Hub: https://covid19.nj.gov/pages/t...

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