Help finding where to get a COVID-19 test and state services
The Enterprise — Michael Koff
“The cool thing about this is it shows you all the sites in Albany County,” said Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy as he demonstrated a new interactive map during Monday morning’s press briefing.
ALBANY COUNTY — On Monday, both the county and the state announced online tools to help residents deal with the pandemic.
The Albany County website now has an interactive map showing COVID-19 testing sites. The map lets users get directions to different locations, tells them wait times for results, and whether walk-ins are accepted.
“The cool thing about this is it shows you all the sites in Albany County,” said McCoy as he demonstrated the map during Monday morning’s press briefing.
“It makes it simple for people to navigate,” he said.
The county continues to urge residents, whether or not they have COVID-19 symptoms, to get tested for the virus.
“Find Services”
The state, working with Google.org, launched a web application to help New Yorkers find benefits.
“COVID-19 has caused unprecedented demand for social services in New York, including families and individuals who have never relied on social programs before,” said Governor Andrew Cuomo in a statement, announcing the app. “This new web application, the result of a public-private partnership, will provide New Yorkers with a user-friendly, stigma-free resource to get the assistance and relief they need.”
The “Find Services” web application prompts each user with a series of simple questions aimed at narrowing the field of possible services to those that are best designed to serve their needs. After answering the questions, the user is provided with a ranked list of potential services along with a description to help judge if the service is right for them and provide them with more information about how to apply.
The web application was developed at no cost to taxpayers over six months and has a code that has been open sourced to allow other government entities to build on this project to meet the needs of their residents.
During a three-week pilot of the application, more than 100,000 New Yorkers accessed the web app. The state will use analytics data to understand where residents need help getting connected with government services and refine the application over time.
