All NYC Schools Will Go To Weekly COVID Testing, De Blasio Says

NEW YORK CITY — Every public school in New York City will conduct weekly COVID-19 testing, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

“We will be testing in elementary, middle and high school, each school every week," he said Monday.

The testing change begins Sept. 27 and will be complemented by a relaxed quarantine rule for unvaccinated students.

De Blasio said the city will follow CDC guidance and let unvaccinated students stay in classrooms in which there are positive COVID-19 tests, so long as they were masked and followed a 3-foot social distancing rule.

He said school and health officials decided on the changes after looking at data for the first week of school.

But it also follows a backlash over the city's soon-to-be-previous bi-weekly testing policy. Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers union, sent de Blasio and Chancellor Meisha Porter a letter urging more strict testing rules.

"According to the Department of Education’s most recent count, in the first week of the new school year, fewer than half of our more than 1,800 schools and sites have been tested, and a total of 663 classrooms have been fully or partially closed, including the closing of one entire school," Mulgrew's letter stated. "But because current testing is biweekly, hundreds of other schools will not get a visit from a testing team until the coming week. Meanwhile students in untested schools — including children under 12 who cannot be vaccinated — could be needlessly exposed to the virus."

Porter said new rule will increase testing.

“These changes will begin on Sept. 27, the date that the DOE vaccine mandate goes into effect, which will be an additional layer of protection for our babies,” she said.