Mayor Eric Adams, New York City Department of Education (DOE) Chancellor David C. Banks, the New York City Test & Trace Corps (Test & Trace), and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) announced that the city’s in-school surveillance testing program has administered over 2 million PCR COVID-19 tests to students and school staff this school year.
In addition to supporting the city’s “Stay Safe, Stay Open” plan, an additional 4 million at-home tests will be delivered to schools each week until the end of the school year. The city’s school surveillance testing program, an interagency effort coordinated by the DOE, DOHMH, and Test & Trace, manages testing at over 1,900 school locations, conducting nearly 80,000 tests per week to ensure city schools were and continue to be the safest place for young people to be during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The school surveillance testing program—the largest in the nation—expanded in February to double the number of individuals tested in each school by including both unvaccinated students and vaccinated students, as well as staff. The random in-school surveillance program continues to provide public health experts with an accurate look at COVID-19 in schools.