As Children Lead NYC COVID Rates, Blind Spots Remain In School Testing Strategy

COVID-19 cases are rising in New York City schools, and parents, teachers, advocates and health experts are expressing concerns that the Department of Education (DOE) in-school testing program isn’t screening enough students and staff to catch outbreaks.

Declining staff testing and a small pool of eligible students mean that in-school test results may not give an accurate picture of how much COVID is circulating in the NYC school system. Parents are also reporting their children are being removed from the DOE’s opt-in testing program after only a first dose of vaccine, despite still being vulnerable to COVID-19. In response to feedback from the United Federation of Teachers, the city says it is now in the process of updating its staff testing program.

Comprehensive testing is an important part of keeping schools open, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and it’s cited by the education department as an important information source for school and public health officials.

“Your conclusions are only as good as your data, and your data is only as good as what you did to get it,” said Dr. Barun Mathema, assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. “And if you’re shaky on all those fronts, at the end of the day, it’s hard to report on anything with any sort of evidence base.”

Click listen in the player, and for more details, head to Gothamist.