As COVID Cases Rise, East Brunswick Schools Offer Free Rapid Tests

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ — Positive COVID-19 cases among students and staff in the East Brunswick school district is rising once again, officials said. This is consistent with the statewide trend where New Jersey has more than twice as many COVID patients in hospitals as it did at the end of March. Read More: COVID Hospitalizations Have Doubled In NJ Since End Of March

Over the past three weeks, the number of positive cases in the school district has been on the rise, Superintendent Victor Valeski said Thursday.

“If anyone in your household is sick, even with what appears to be seasonal allergies, please have your school-aged children tested for COVID before sending them to school,” Valeski told parents and guardians in a communication.

The district is also offering free rapid test kits and masks.

“If you need a rapid testing kit for your child, please contact your school nurse. One will be provided to you free of charge. Masks continue to be available in our schools for anyone who needs one,” Valeski said.

The Superintendent thanked the school community for their efforts in keeping schools open. “We are in the home stretch and together we can contribute to safe end of the school year experience for all students and staff,” he said.

In New Jersey, hospitals had 704 patients with confirmed or suspected COVID as of Wednesday. The state health department reported 339 at the end of March, 481 on April 30 and 617 on Sunday. New Jersey reported 720 hospitalizations Tuesday, but the figure dipped the following day.

So far, New Jersey's steady increase in cases and hospitalizations hasn't approached the strength of the omicron wave that hit the state last winter.

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