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When it comes to getting tested for the coronavirus, money talks — and at least 100 affluent New Yorkers plunked down big bucks for the services of a medical concierge office in Manhattan, according to a report.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has blasted the notion of healthy celebrities getting access to the hard-to-find coronavirus tests at the expense of everyday folks who need them more.
But the dozens of deep-pocketed movers and shakers paid a $5,000-a-year membership fee for a little-known Big Apple medical service called Sollis Health on East 77th Street, two sources familiar with its activities told Reuters.
The company, a customer of Enzo Clinical Labs Inc. of Farmingdale, Long Island, used the lab to test its members, who included people in business, entertainment and the media, the sources told the news service.
The sources declined to identify the clients and Reuters said it could not establish who they were.
Sollis Health is among a long list of boutique outfits catering to well-heeled clients seeking top-notch health care who pay thousands of dollars a year to gain special access to in-demand doctors and private hospital emergency rooms, according to the news outlet.
Reuters was unable to confirm if other medical concierge services also offer COVID-19 tests.
One of the sources told the outlet that the company only tested people who showed symptoms of the illness, in accordance with New York Health Department guidelines.
In recent days, several celebrities announced they had tested positive for the bug, including Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant, whose team announced that all the players were tested by a private lab after a game against the Golden State Warriors.
Mayor Bill de Blasio reacted by wishing Durant and three of his infected teammates a “speedy recovery.”
He added: “With all due respect, an entire NBA team should NOT get tested for COVID-19 while there are critically ill patients waiting to be tested. Tests should not be for the wealthy, but for the sick.”
When asked about the practice, President Trump recently said: “Perhaps that’s been the story of life. That does happen on occasion. And I’ve noticed where some people have been tested fairly quickly.”
Dr. Jake Deutsch, a clinical director of New York-based Cure Urgent Care, told Reuters that “clearly there is access beyond what most Americans are seeing is available.”
“Hopefully we will get mass testing soon, it shouldn’t be based on your class or any other factor other than symptoms,” he added.
One of the people tested by Cure Urgent Care was social media influencer and fashion blogger Arielle Charnas, who posted about her positive result on Instagram.
Deutsch said Charnas, a friend, was ill and did not get preferential treatment. She did not respond to a request for a comment by Reuters.
Sollis Health, which has offices in the Upper East Side and Tribeca, says on its website: “At the ER, you’ll wait 5 hours. Our doctors can handle most medical issues immediately. It can take weeks to see the best specialists. We get you in right away.”
Its doctors contacted the state Health Department for test kits and found that their availability was limited, a source told Reuters.
The Health Department did not respond to a request from the news outlet for comment on its dealings with Sollis.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post.
