COVID-19 testing at the Westchester County Center: What you need to know

The Westchester County Center is once again being used to help in the fight against the pandemic as the facility will be used as a COVID-19 testing site beginning today.
But before you go there for the free testing -- there's a few things you need to know.
• You need an appointment to get tested. They are not talking walk ins.  Go Westchester.Gov to find a link to sign up for an appointment.    
• The county is partnering with a private company called Quadrant Bioscience, to conduct the COVID-19 testing.
• The type of test they will be administering is an oral, saliva-based PCR test.
• The testing is free and open to anyone who is showing COVID-19 symptoms or who was exposed to someone with the virus.
• Testing is very limited. County officials say they already know the demand for testing will exceed the amount of tests they have available.
• This site is not for people who just want to get checked before traveling, or going to a New Year's celebration.
• They will only be conducting the testing for 9 days.
Dec. 29, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Dec. 30, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Jan. 3, 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Jan. 4, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Jan. 5, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Jan. 6, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Jan. 7, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Jan. 10, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Jan. 11, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Appointments for this week, that's today and tomorrow, have already been booked. Workers tell News 12 they have 180 appointments set up for today and tomorrow. Lois Miceli, of New Rochelle, was one of those who got an appointment for the first day of COVID-19 testing at the Westchester County Center. "I know the PCR are much more accurate so that's why I wanted to come here," says Miceli.
The first two days of appointments were snatched up quickly. "I got the alert on my phone with an email stating this was here, so I went right on and booked the appointment and within minutes they were all gone," says Miceli.
If you go on the site, you'll see a message that says there are no times available for the next month but officials are saying to ignore that. New appointments will show up on the site three days before new appointments become available. You just have to continually check back to see when new appointments open up.