Greenwich Public Schools Receives 5,580 Rapid COVID-19 Tests

GREENWICH, CT — In an effort to help curb the spread of COVID-19, K-12 schools statewide have received COVID-19 tests from the Connecticut Departments of Education and Public Health.

Each district has been allocated a predetermined number of kits based on a percentage of total students and staff.

The Greenwich Public Schools district has received 5,580 tests: 1,440 FlexFlow tests for staff, and 4,140 iHealth tests for students. There are currently not enough tests for each student. Gov. Ned Lamont said Tuesday he anticipates additional allocations to be announced in the coming days as the state continues securing more tests from vendors.

In a letter to families Tuesday afternoon, GPS Superintendent Dr. Toni Jones and Head of Nursing Mary Keller said the tests will be available for use at all 15 public schools in Greenwich as early as Wednesday.

The tests can only be distributed and utilized for the following three purposes:

1. If a child or staff person exhibits symptoms and needs to be screened for COVID-19.
2. If a child or staff member has a direct exposure to an individual with COVID-19.
3. If a class or program is experiencing multiple cases of COVID-19, a school may choose to distribute tests to all students in that classroom or program if they have difficulty accessing tests.

If symptoms develop while a student is in school, the school nurse will administer the test with parental permission. If a staff member or student has been identified as a close contact to a positive case in school, the test will be sent home for an adult to administer to their child.

Jones and Keller said if a student tests positive, it's important for that case to be reported to a school nurse.

Earlier on Tuesday, 392 new COVID-19 cases were reported district-wide. The previous high for a single update was 147 on Dec. 24. Before classes resumed in Greenwich this week, Jones announced several new measures the district is implementing to help stop the transmission of COVID-19.