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Date: 1/25/2022
SPRINGFIELD – The city of Springfield continues pursuing new avenues to curb the omicron variant’s impacts, including providing at-home test kits for the school district and introducing a new testing site.
At-Home Test Kits
After Gov. Charlie Baker and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced a program that would send at-home rapid antigen test kits bi-weekly to interested parties, Springfield Public Schools revealed their intention to opt-in for the program on Jan. 20.
In an email sent to Springfield Public Schools staff members, the city highlighted the positive impacts the new program would have, sharing that it will exponentially increase the level of testing taking place within the district and citywide.
The arrival of bi-weekly antigen tests will also be replacing the presence of the Test and Stay program, which previously allowed close-contact students who weren’t exhibiting symptoms to remain in school while continuing to take COVID-19 tests. This transition is in accordance with Baker’s requirement for school districts participating in the at-home testing to abandon the Test and Stay program. The schools will still be enrolled in the symptomatic and pool testing programs, according to the email.
The city expects to receive staff test kits during the week of Jan. 24 and student test kits during the week of Jan. 31. Both parties will need to opt-in to participate in the program, including the requirement of parental consent forms for students.
“The district will engage in a robust campaign at the appropriate time to educate parents and strongly encourage the timely return of consent forms,” said Springfield Public Schools in their email to staffers.
New Testing Site
In an effort to take pressure off the overcrowded Eastfield Mall American Medical Response (AMR) testing site, the city announced that a new testing site that will open after making requests to the Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov Karyn Polito administration.
The testing site is operational at Springfield Technology Park after opening on Jan. 17. The testing site will be open from Monday to Friday 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. along with Saturday and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mayor Domenic Sarno stressed the importance of the new site in a statement, with the testing area also offering vaccination and booster shots.
“Health and Human Services Commissioner Helen Caulton-Harris and I continue to encourage everyone to get their vaccine and booster shot - of note, this Tech Park site continues to give out vaccine and booster shots too. Only by increasing our vaccination rates can we turn back this COVID-19 pandemic and ease the burden that our hospitals are facing,” said Sarno.