Salem Reschedules Coronavirus Testing For Returning Students

SALEM, MA —With most Salem High School students in grades 10 through 12 set to return to the classroom this week for the first time in 11 months, the district is hoping to test the vast majority of them for coronavirus to provide as safe an environment as possible.

This week's winter storm put a wrench in the plans to test students prior to their return in hybrid-learning cohorts starting Thursday and Friday with testing scheduled for Monday canceled because of the snow emergency.

Students in both cohorts can now be tested during the day at Salem High School on Friday.

There is also the option to be tested Thursday at Saltonstall School during Salem High School Community Office hours from 5 to 8 p.m. The Thursday session is also open to both cohorts.

"Testing is not mandatory," Zrike said in advance of kindergarten through ninth-grade students returning on Jan. 11. "But we're really strongly encouraging people to take advantage of our testing."

The testing after the holiday break had a 1.7 positive test rate among the 1,850 students, teachers and families tested. Only one faculty member and 11 students tested positive in those tests.

Positive test rates in the city — and across the state — have fallen since the start of last month. The state reached a high positive test rate of 8.6 percent in a rolling seven-day average in early January.

As of Tuesday, the seven-day rolling positive test rate in Massachusetts was 3.44 percent.

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)