NYC plans to double COVID-19 testing in schools; ‘petri dish’ cruise ships

New York City will double COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing in schools when students return in January, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

De Blasio, Mayor-Elect Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul all spoke Tuesday at a virus briefing of the importance of bringing students back to school in January, for kids and for parents. Schools are the “safest places to be in New York City,” de Blasio said.

“Your children are safer in school,” Adams said during the briefing. He and de Blasio said they have been working closely planning for Jan. 3, when schools will reopen.

The new approach for schools in January is called “stay safe and stay open,” the mayor said. Under his plan, the city plans to distribute at-home testing kits to classrooms when a student tests positive. All students who are asymptomatic and test negative will be able to return to schools. Students will take two at-home tests over the course of seven days, he said.

Hochul said she sent 600,000 rapid tests to the city last week. The state and the city are working to make sure there’s no shortage of supply, Hochul said.

New York City has reported a daily average of more than 20,000 confirmed and probable cases in the past week. That’s more than double the daily average over the past 28 days. While cases are at a record, hospitalizations and deaths remain well below record highs reached in 2020.

In schools, about 98% of close contacts do not end up developing COVID-19, Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi said during the briefing. Ventilation, testing and vaccination all make schools safer than elsewhere, he said.

‘Petri dish’ cruise ships should halt sailings on COVID-19 surge, senator says

Cruise ships are “repeating recent history as petri dishes of COVID-19 infection,” said Democratic Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, urging the companies and health agencies to curb operations.

“Time for CDC & cruise lines to protect consumers & again pause docking their ships,” he said in a tweet.

Cruise line operators like Carnival have implemented COVID-19 safeguards such as masking and proof of vaccination. Still, the fast-spreading omicron variant triggered reports of ships being turned away at ports due to infections onboard.

COVID-19 concerns are already reflected in cruise stocks, with Carnival closing 1.2% down Monday, Royal Caribbean Cruises retreating 1.4% and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings down 2.6%.

From wire reports