New Yorkers will be able to pick up at-home COVID-19 test kits at parks sites in all five boroughs as the city works to ramp up its distribution efforts amid a rise in cases, Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday.

Fifty-seven public pools, recreation centers and nature centers will start handing out at-home COVID-19 testing kits on Wednesday, July 13, Adams said in a press release. 

The city has allocated 35,000 testing kits to support the new initiative, the mayor said. 

More than 1,000 community organizations — including libraries and cultural institutions — have already been distributing tests as part of the city’s At-Home Test Distribution Program, the release noted. 

A full list of sites that are distributing at-home kits is available on the city’s COVID-19 testing website. 

“It’s clear that New Yorkers prefer the reliability, the convenience and the immediate results provided by at-home tests, so I encourage all New Yorkers to go out and pick up a free at-home test at one of our 1,200 distribution sites as soon as they can to remain prepared, and to take advantage of the life-saving treatments we now have readily available to fight this virus,” Adams said in a statement. 

The mayor's announcement came as his administration faces criticism over its handling of a new wave of COVID-19 fueled by the spread of two highly contagious omicron subvariants known as BA.4 and BA.5. 

As of Tuesday, the five boroughs were reporting a 15.2% seven-day infection rate — up from 14.6% last Thursday. 

While Adams last month announced plans to provide free testing and access to antiviral medications at more than two dozen new mobile sites, the city also did away with its COVID-19 alert system and said it would begin closing some testing sites. 

“The color-coded system was fighting an old war,” Adams said last week, without announcing an alternative or replacement. 

The city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene on Friday did advise New Yorkers to wear “high-quality” masks in public indoor settings and crowded outdoor spaces, citing “high levels of COVID-19” in the five boroughs.

But Adams, for his part, appeared without a mask at several indoor events over the past few days, including a meeting focused on public safety in Harlem on Monday and a news conference in the Bronx on Saturday.

When a reporter asked Adams at a briefing Tuesday afternoon what message the appearances sent to New Yorkers, the mayor replied, “That I have to do better, like everyone has to do better.”

“You know, I’m perfectly imperfect. I must have said that 100 times,” he said.

“Being mayor is not perfection, it’s dedication,” he added. “I’m dedicated to navigating this city out of this crisis.”