West Hartford Distributing Coronavirus Test Kits

WEST HARTFORD, CT – The town of West Hartford has received 8,010 coronavirus test kits from the State of Connecticut and plans to distribute them at two drive-through locations on Friday, town officials said.

The locations are Conard High School, 110 Beechwood Road and King Philip Middle School, 100 King Philip Drive.

The distribution will begin at 10 a.m. and will run until 2 p.m., or until supplies are exhausted.

Residents should stay in your vehicle and wear a mask when interacting with staff at the pick-up location.

The purpose of this distribution is to provide tests kits to be used this week to reduce the spread of the Omicron virus and to supplement existing testing.

"There are three simple and effective interventions to fight off the current surge of COVID-19 from the Omicron variant – vaccination, masking, and testing," Connecticut Public Health Commissioner Dr. Manisha Juthani said. "We will be distributing two of these – masks and tests – so that our communities can work as quickly as possible to get past this surge. I strongly encourage people to limit gathering sizes during this holiday week. Because of the scarcity of these kits, I am asking the residents of our state to please take only the kits that you need for your immediate family so that we can distribute as many as possible to help flatten the Omicron curve."

The town will distribute one test kit per family member per household, up to a maximum of four. The test kits are for West Hartford residents only (no businesses). Proof of residency will be required.

A portion of the test kits will be reserved for residents in need and distributed by West Hartford Social Services through its weekly food distribution.

To access the Conard High School distribution site, residents can enter the parking lot via the westbound lane of Beechwood Road and continue straight until you reach the main entrance of the high school. Left turns into the parking lot will be prohibited.

To access the King Philip Middle School distribution site, residents can enter the parking lot via the northbound lane of King Philip Drive and continue straight until you reach the main entrance of the school. Please note left turns into the parking lot will also be prohibited.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has granted emergency use authorization for the iHealth COVID-19 antigen rapid test, which is completed with an anterior nasal swab and is not the deep nasal test. Each kit contains two tests. The complete instructions for the at-home rapid test are available on the iHealth packaging in English and Spanish. Results are usually available in 15 minutes. More information on the iHealth antigen home test kits is available at ihealthlabs.com.

Per the CDC recommendations, if your self-test yields a positive result, please stay home or isolate for 5 days and wear a mask. There is no need to obtain a follow up PCR test. Given the highly infectious nature of the Omicron variant, it is most important to wear any mask both in public spaces and when interacting in close contact with individuals outside of your household, but an N95 mask will provide better protection.

In addition to those designated for the general public, the state has purchased another one million iHealth kits – each containing two tests for a total of two million tests – that will be distributed to K-12 schools statewide. Distribution of those kits, which will also include a supply of N95 masks, will begin in January and continue through the school year as supplies last. Planning for this initiative is being conducted in partnership with the Connecticut State Department of Education. More details on the distribution of tests for schools will be announced in early January.

The Office of the Governor, Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (DESPP-DEMHS) and the Connecticut Military Department (CMD) are also partnering to distribute several million N95 masks, as an additional protective measure for the general population. Details on West Hartford’s N95 mask distribution will follow sometime next week.