ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - People typically go to church for spiritual salvation but now  there is another potentially life-saving measure underway at Pinellas Community Church. 

The house of worship on 31st Street South in St. Petersburg is now doubling as a COVID-19 testing site.

“We’re just trying to have extra help in this community where it’s needed,” said Dr. Yomaris Pena with Somos Community Care. “We’re trying to do at least 500 tests per day.”

Dr. Pena is one of 12 health care providers assigned to this location. The group partnered with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to help communities hit hard by coronavirus.

“To have a site here in this beautiful church, Pinellas Community Church is really important to us and we can’t say thank you enough to the Governor and his team,” said St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman.

Gov. Cuomo reached out to Mayor Kriseman to offer assistance in testing and personal protection equipment for for frontline workers. On a Wednesday morning conference call, Cuomo praised Kriseman for being one of the first mayors in the country to take proactive steps to flatten the COVID-19 curve.

“You were right early on,” said Cuomo. “You were right on the stay at home order; you were right on the intelligence of wearing masks and if we’d followed your advice this nation would be in a different place.”

“Anything else you need, we’re here. But in the meantime keep going. We’re together, we’re here. We’re your neighbors to the North.”

Cuomo also said this is his way of “giving back,” a reference to the 30,000 medical workers who to New York to work at the height of the pandemic.