Coronavirus: Testing Students In Rockland's Expanded Yellow Zone

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — With its coronavirus yellow zone expanded, Rockland County has arranged with Good Samaritan Hospital to provide one week of testing for school districts starting Monday.

"In the interest of public health, we are working with Good Samaritan Hospital to decrease the burden of testing on our school districts. We want students to be able to attend in-person classes if possible," said Commissioner of Health Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert."However, because we cannot ensure the continuation of these testing services, we advise all of our local districts to prepare to meet the Governor's testing requirements on their own."

Schools in New York state's yellow zones are required to test 20 percent of students, faculty, and staff over the two-week period immediately following the designation in order to continue in-person instruction. School districts have until Dec. 9 to meet this requirement.

If the results of the 20 percent testing show the positivity rate of those tested is lower than the yellow zone’s current 7-day positivity rate, that would indicate that in-person instruction in that school or district is not a significant driver of local viral spread.

Testing at that school would no longer be required to continue in-person instruction.

However, if the results of the two-week testing reveal that the positivity rate among in-person student, staff, and faculty is higher than the current 7-day positivity rate, the school will be required to continue to test 20 percent of the in-person population over a two-week period.

Good Samaritan Hospital is providing the staff to perform the testing and to record test results for a week. Testing will be available Monday – Friday to any student, faculty, or staff member from any of the schools in Rockland's yellow zone, at any test site.

As of Nov. 28, the 7-day rolling average for Rockland's yellow zone was 3.94 percent, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a news briefing Nov. 29.

As of Monday, the 7-day positivity average for Rockland County as a whole was 4.1 percent, lower than Putnam, Orange and Westchester counties. The most recent positivity rate for Rockland County and the rest of the Hudson region can be found on the state's coronavirus dashboards here.

This testing is NOT for people having symptoms of COVID-19. These testing sites are ONLY for members of the school communities affected by the Governor's Yellow Zone restrictions.

Testing will take place from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the following locations. Remember to wear a mask and maintain social distancing:

• Monday, November 30 - Palisades Center Mall Garage Entrance West (ramp entrance next to Best Buy). This is a drive-up site or walk-up for those arriving by bus (please follow signs).

• Tuesday, December 1 - Suffern High School located at 49 Viola Road in Suffern (10901)

• Wednesday, December 2 - Spring Valley High School located at 361 E. Route 59 in Spring Valley (10977)

• Thursday, December 3 - Rockland BOCES, Bldg. 10 located at 65 Parrott Road in West Nyack (10994)

• Friday, December 4 - Palisades Center Mall Garage Entrance West (ramp entrance next to Best Buy). This is a drive-up site or walk-up for those arriving by bus (please follow signs).

Please complete the registration form prior to arriving at one of the testing sites. A parent or guardian will need to sign the consent (on the bottom of the page) for testing a minor.

Good Samaritan Hospital will notify you of the test results.