Essex County is expanding COVID-19 testing to satellite sites that will offer saliva tests while continuing to operate its drive-through swab testing center in Weequahic Park. The satellite sites will begin on Thursday, May 21. All tests are by appointment only and are being offered to Essex County residents free of charge. To make an appointment, please visit www.EssexCovid.org or call 973-324-9950.
Satellite testing will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. at the following locations:
- Thursday, May 21, Essex Golf Center, 600 Eagle Rock Avenue, Roseland. 200 appointments will be available.
- Tuesday, May 26, Essex County Public Works-Fleet Maintenance, 99 West Bradford Avenue, Cedar Grove. 200 appointments will be available.
- Thursday, May 28, Codey Arena, 560 Northfield Avenue, West Orange. 250 appointments will be available.
The Weequahic Park testing site will be held from 9 a.m. to noon on Wednesdays, May 20 and 27; and Fridays, May 22 and 29. No testing will be done on Memorial Day, May 25. Additional dates will be added in June.
Testing is available to all Essex County residents whether they are showing symptoms of the virus or are asymptomatic. Residents are encouraged to get retested if they have taken the swab or saliva tests 14 days ago or more and have received negative test results.
To make an appointment, residents should visit www.EssexCOVID.org or call 973-324-9950. They will be required to complete a short questionnaire. When finished, they will be provided with an appointment time and a confirmation number. Residents should bring the confirmation number with them. They are asked to arrive 15 minutes before their scheduled appointment. Residents taking the COVID-19 saliva test should not eat, drink, smoke or chew gum 30 minutes prior to arrival.
Essex County opened its COVID-19 testing center in Weequahic Park on March 26 and, as of May 12, it has administered 4,901 tests, with 1,839 of those tests being positive.
As of Monday, May 18, Essex County has the highest number of COVID-19-related deaths in New Jersey with 1,550, and the third highest number of positive cases with 16,712. Bergen and Hudson Counties have more positive cases than Essex.
