Brad Lander Calls for Doubling School-Based Test & Trace Capacity to Replace Arbitrary 2-Case School Closure Threshold
NEW YORK – After Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his commitment to replacing the arbitrary rule requiring closure of entire school buildings if two unconnected cases are identified, City Council Member and Comptroller candidate Brad Lander is calling for the Mayor to use federal resources to double the capacity of testing, contact tracing and situation room coordination and support to schools.
“After months of reviewing the policy, Mayor de Blasio is finally committing to change the arbitrary 2-case rule, but he has offered little by way of a plan to assure families and teachers that it will be replaced with a sound public health approach. We have the resources to expand our test and trace capacity, and scale up support in the Situation Room, so we can close affected classrooms and trace contacts rapidly, while keeping healthy classrooms open” said Brad Lander.
New York City has already received $250 million in federal funding to support school-based testing, tracing, and the situation room. Lander is calling on the mayor to allocate an additional $250 million from the $4.5 billion dollars the NYC Department of Education is receiving from the American Rescue Plan. That funding would be enough to:
Increase random testing of students and staff from 20% to 30% each week.
Track every identified case within three hours of notice.
Increase staff in the situation room by 50% to better support principals.
Focus test and trace capacity to identify any evidence of in-school transmission.
The vast majority of Covid-19 cases identified in New York City public schools have not come from in-school transmission. In those cases, it is essential to quarantine the affected classroom, and any individuals that were exposed per CDC guidelines. However, it is only necessary to close down a full school building where there is evidence of in-school transmission.
“An arbitrary threshold for unconnected cases isn’t a reasonable or effective way to control virus spread. Instead, let’s surge testing and tracing, isolate cohorts when cases are identified, and only shut full buildings down when there is evidence of spread in the school. With a stronger rapid response, funded by President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, we can keep our kids in classrooms safely, restore stability to families, and rebuild trust in our school communities,” said Lander.