Stamford Schools Receive COVID-19 Rapid Tests

STAMFORD, 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.

During Mayor Caroline Simmons' bi-weekly COVID-19 update Tuesday, Superintendent of Stamford Public Schools Dr. Tamu Lucero said the district picked up "numerous test kits" for students and staff. Lucero did not disclose how many tests the district received.

Overall on Tuesday, 670,000 iHealth and FlexFlow tests were sent to public and private K-12 schools and early childcare providers statewide. Each district has been allocated a predetermined number of kits based on a percentage of total students and staff.

Gov. Ned Lamont said this allocation is the first phase of his administration's distribution of self-tests for schools and early childcare providers, and he anticipates additional allocations to be announced in the coming days as the state continues securing more tests from vendors.

The CT Department of Education provided school officials with guidance recommending that the tests be used under three circumstances:

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 want to distribute tests to all students in that classroom if they have difficulty accessing tests.

"We're really excited that now when we have a student or staff members who are having symptoms and we're sending them home, we cannot say to them, 'So please be tested. Find a test on your own.' We'll be able to hand them a test and they'll be able to take that test when they get home and make some determinations on whether or not they tested positive for COVID," Lucero said, calling the fight against COVID-19 a collaborative effort.

"I'm so proud of the work all of our staff and our teachers and our administrators are doing to support students, because we know in-person learning is the best learning that can happen.

"Anything this community can do to make sure we're all working really hard to wear our masks and really be safe, I think it'll make it better for all of us, especially for our students so we can make sure they get back to school in a really normal fashion in the next few weeks," Lucero added.

Lamont said the tests will help ensure students stay in school.

"Keeping students in school in a safe and healthy learning environment has been one of my top priorities, and providing these self-tests to schools and early childcare providers will be another component in our efforts toward getting this done," Lamont said in a news release Tuesday. "Amid a worldwide scramble to obtain tests, our administration is continuing to work with vendors to get as many tests here as possible, and we will continue working with our school districts to help fulfill these needs."