Testing center opens in Passaic County, more planned for NJ

WAYNE — The state's newest COVID-19 drive-thru testing center opened on Wednesday for Passaic County residents. And like testing centers across the state, people had to wait in long lines of cars.

The testing center at William Paterson University is different from the centers at Bergen Community College in Paramus and the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel in that people cannot simply show up: they must have a referral from a doctor in order to be tested.

NorthJersey.com reported that testing started about an hour late on Wednesday. The county is working with Elmwood Park-based BioReference, which is helping to set up centers at other locations around the state.

Bergen Community College's center closed about 8 a.m. Wednesday when the day's allotted 250 tests were assigned, according to Paramus police. State police told NJ.com that the Arts Center location was still open as of 11:15 a.m. Monday. On Tuesday, the center closed within an hour of opening at 8 a.m.

More testing centers are in the works around New Jersey.

Essex County is opening a test center for county residents at Weequahic Park in Newark by appointment only for those showing signs of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus.

Camden County and Ocean County are each expected to announce testing centers at Camden County College in Sicklerville and Ocean County College in Toms River.

The Ocean County Health Dept. said that those seeking a test should come to the test center with a prescription from their doctor.

"We are not going to do any health screening at the site. It is just for testing for the virus," said Ocean County Public Health Coordinator Dan Regenye said. A date has not been set.

Morris County government spokesman Larry Ragonese told New Jersey 101.5 that plans are being worked on for a second testing center at County College of Morris in Randolph. He said the county is waiting for all of the testing equipment and is putting together procedures for how the center will operate.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ