America's richest zip code buys coronavirus tests for all its millionaire residents
Island has average income of $2.5m
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Your support makes all the difference.Thousands of coronavirus tests have been purchased by a luxury private island in Florida, amid the Covid-19 outbreak.
The residents of Fisher Island, in Miami, have been given the option of taking a coronavirus test, after the owners of the island bought thousands of kits.
Fisher Island is home to America’s richest zip code, with notable residents including, Boris Becker, Caroline Wozniacki and the Hasbro Toys CEO Alan Hassenfeld, among others.
The island bought thousands of coronavirus blood test kits from the University of Miami Health System, according to the Miami Herald.
They report that the island made a deal with the university to have tests made available to more than 800 families who live on the island.
The testing kits are available for both staff and residents.
Sissy DeMaria, the spokeswoman for Fisher Island, told the Daily Mail that the decision was taken in order to protect high-risk residents.
“To further minimise spread on the densely populated island with half of the residents over the age of 60 and at high risk, Fisher Island asked UM Health Clinic to procure antibody testing for all employees and residents,” she said.
“Fisher Island is funding the cost of the testing which is under way now.”
In 2018, Bloomberg reported that Fisher Island had America’s richest zip code, with an average income of $2.5m among residents in 2015.
In March, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, criticised wealthy people for getting coronavirus tests, while others in the country had to wait for them to be made available.
After the Brooklyn Nets professional basketball team announced the entire team had been tested, the mayor tweeted his disappointment.
“We wish them a speedy recovery,” the mayor wrote on Twitter. “But, 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,” he said.
“Tests should not be for the wealthy, but for the sick,” the mayor added.
According to a tracking project hosted by Johns Hopkins University, Florida has upwards of 21,019 confirmed coronavirus cases and at least 499 deaths.
In the US as a whole, upwards of 584,073 people have tested positive for coronavirus. The death toll has reached at least 24,485.
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