STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — New York City is updating its coronavirus (COVID-19) testing and quarantine protocols in public school buildings just a week into the 2021-2022 school year.
The city will increase COVID-19 testing — moving from biweekly testing to weekly testing in all elementary, middle and high schools. This policy change comes just a day after the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) union called on Mayor Bill de Blasio to implement weekly testing for students, especially in schools with students under 12 who aren’t eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
The city is also changing the quarantine approach to align with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“When there is a positive test in a classroom, the unvaccinated students in that classroom will not have to quarantine if they are masked and are three feet distanced. That will allow more kids to safely remain in the classroom,” de Blasio said about the new quarantine policy.
Both of these protocols will go into effect on Monday, Sept. 27, de Blasio said.
Last Monday, all 1 million public school students across the five boroughs returned to campus for in-person learning, with no remote or hybrid option available. There are several health and safety measures in place, including required face masks on school property, and social distancing to the greatest extent possible.
However, by last Wednesday, 30 schools on Staten Island had at least one classroom closed, or partially closed, due to exposure to COVID-19.
As of Sunday evening, 441 classrooms were closed and an additional 338 were partially closed across the five boroughs, according to the city Department of Education’s (DOE) Daily COVID Case Map. One elementary school in Manhattan is currently closed and has moved all students to remote learning due to several coronavirus cases.
Under the previous testing policy, each school would test unvaccinated individuals who have consented to in-person testing, at a threshold of 10% of unvaccinated students per school population, on a biweekly basis. Students and staff who are fully vaccinated aren’t subject to random testing.
In the 2020-2021 school year, schools randomly tested 10% to 20% of the school population on a weekly basis.
Starting next Monday, schools will increase to weekly coronavirus testing — the same day that the city’s vaccine mandate for all school staff goes into effect. Still, schools will test 10% of the population who consent to coronavirus testing.
“Now that the first week is behind us, we looked at the initial results, and we’re making important updates that add an additional layer of security and surveillance to our testing policy while also aligning to the CDC standards for quarantines, which will help keep students safely in their classrooms,” said Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter.
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