UPDATE: You can now get a coronavirus test at these 2 N.J.-run sites even if you don’t have symptoms

Testing for the coronavirus remains mostly accessible to symptomatic New Jersey residents, but various testing options are also available for those not exhibiting any COVID-19 symptoms.

Gov. Phil Murphy stated Tuesday that testing in New Jersey is “not remotely where we think it needs to be for folks to be feel comfortable and confident to get back to some semblance of normalcy,” yet state officials have not commented on whether or not state-run testing sites will expand procedures to encompass asymptomatic patients — despite the fact that they can carry and spread the illness to others.

Nonetheless, a number of urgent care facilities across the state are testing patients not exhibiting symptoms of the coronavirus, which include fever, cough, runny nose and shortness of breath.

One of these centers is Medemerge in Green Brook, which performs tests for sick patients from the safety of their vehicles and triages and assesses asymptomatic patients at the front door of its facility.

Dr. John Pilla of Medemerge said that the center is currently using a nasal or oral swab test for “pretty much almost everyone that requests to be tested," which ranges from 100 to 150 patients per day.

“The number of sick people has declined somewhat," Pilla said. “So we’re seeing less sick people and more people looking for screenings, people in follow up, people looking to return to work, various situations like that.”

The facility will also be assessing its patients using antibody testing within the next week, Pilla confirmed. Antibody tests draw blood from patients to evaluate their immunity to the coronavirus and caters to individuals that "have not been ill, may have been exposed to the virus and not developed symptoms, or may have developed mild symptoms,” Pilla explained.

“The antibodies will be in your system if you have an immunity, and theoretically that would say that you’re more than likely not to get that coronavirus illness for the next six to 24 months, for the most part,” Pilla said. "There are exceptions to every rule, but if you do get coronavirus in the next six months or so, when you have antibodies, more than likely you’ll get a very mild infection.”

Pilla emphasized that symptomatic patients of the center will continue to be tested using the nasal swab procedure.

“If you’re ill, you should get the swab. If you’re not ill, or if you want to just see if you’re immune or a silent carrier, you would use the antibody test,” Pilla explained.

Beyond Green Brook, urgent care center Immediate Care has partnered with Quest Diagnostics to introduce antibody testing at its locations in Toms River and East Windsor, and by early next week will have tests available at its other five facilities in Hazlet, Marlboro, Brick, Edison and Red Bank.

The tests will be available via appointment only for patients with no coronavirus symptoms, those with mild symptoms, or even those with symptoms that have come and passed.

“It will be for patients that either never once exhibited COVID-19 symptoms ever," said William Schuler, business development manager for Immediate Care. “Or, if they had, they have not done so in the last 10 days.”

All patients are required to wear masks upon entering the facilities.

Immediate Care facilities in Hazlet, Marlboro, Brick, Edison, and Red Bank continue to exclusively perform nasal swab tests on patients exhibiting coronavirus symptoms, which Schuler said numbers over 1,000 each week across all five locations.

Schuler said that Immediate Care is not currenlty seeking to extend its nasal swab testing to asymptomatic patients.

“We literally on a day-by-day basis have to count out swabs to make sure we have enough to do the next day. And we are always reaching out to different labs and medical facilities that maybe don’t have use for them," Schuler said.

In addition to these urgent care centers, all five facilities of the The Doctors’ Office Urgent Care, located around the state, are also conducting curbside testing for the coronavirus on both its symptomatic and asymptomatic patients.

The Doctor’s Office Urgent Care has locations in Paramus, West Caldwell, Manalapan, Brick and Midland Park, at each of which doctors use the nasal swab procedure to test patients for the coronavirus.

Janet Leech, manager of the Manalapan and Brick sites, said that the facilities she oversees receive 35 to 100 patients a day, roughly 50 percent of whom are not symptomatic of the coronavirus.

Reflecting upon the importance of testing those who are not exhibiting symptoms related to COVID-19, Leech emphasized that the pandemic is largely influenced by asymptomatic patients who can unknowingly carry the virus and expose it to others.

“It’s for the safety of everybody else. If we find out they’re positive, then at least they know they need to stay home," Leech said.

Excel Urgent Care, which operates under the same division as The Doctor’s Office and has state locations in Old Bridge, Iselin, and Chester, is also testing asymptomatic patients for COVID-19.

Looking beyond urgent care facilities, an at-home testing kit for COVID-19 has recently been approved by the FDA and will be available to the public in the coming weeks — though individuals interested in purchasing a kit must be recommended by their health care provider.

Asymptomatic patients interested in receiving a coronavirus test should call ahead to their local medical or urgent care facility to ascertain if they are providing tests for individuals free of COVID-19 symptoms.

A list of additional New Jersey testing centers is provided online by the CDC.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether it’s a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

Have a tip? Tell us.nj.com/tips.

Caroline Fassett may be reached at cfassett@njadvancemedia.com. Find NJ.com on Facebook.