Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Saturday that the state is partnering with Northwell Health to bring coronavirus testing sites to 24 churches in an effort to expand testing in predominantly minority communities.

The sites will open this month at houses of worship, including several in the Bronx and Brooklyn.

Cuomo says the churches have the outreach tools in place to get people through the door and communicate to them why they should be tested. The iniative was inspired in part by the fact that communities of color have seen the highest percentages of hospitalzations and infections.

A first wave of testing sites will open the week of May 12, and the second wave will open on May 24.

It comes as the state has sought to ramp up testing in these neighborhoods. Authorities have also been distributing face voerings and hand sanitizer in public housing.

 In the Bronx and Brooklyn, the church testing sites will include: