Thomas Breen Photo
Board of Public Health Commissioner Darnell Young getting his city-administered vaccine last week.
New Haveners have a new place to get tested quick for Covid-19.
That was among the updates offered at a virtual press conference held by the Elicker administration Monday afternoon to address Covid-19-related issues.
Among the updates:
• A new drive-through testing site has opened at the old Gateway Community College campus at 60 Sargent Dr. next to Jordan’s on Long Wharf (where a previous test site operated earlier this year). City emergency operations chief Rick Fontana said the center — which is open Mondays through Fridays from 8 a.m. to 7:45 p.m. and weekend from noon to 5 p.m. — will have four lanes, enough to get people in and out within minutes. People will be given a small swab to self-administer the test; results would be expected within 24 to 72 hours. Click here for more information, including to schedule a test.
• Since the beginning of the pandemic, 7,639 New Haveners have had reported cases of Covid-19; 153 have died.
• The city vaccinated 670 people last week under the first phase of its mass vaccination plan (separate from Yale New Haven’s), reported Health Director Maritza Bond. It expects to vaccinate another 1,000 people this week. New Haven plans to proceed with the plan of vaccinating everyone twice within four weeks, rather than holding off on boosters in order to vaccinate more people up front, as some (but not all) experts are suggesting. Bond and Mayor Justin Elicker said the city would not initiate such a changed plan; it would look to the state to consider such measures, which are not currently under consideration.
Schools Superintendent Iline Tracey, Health Director Maritza Bond, Mayor Justin Elicker at Monday’s Zoom press conference.
• Under the plan to reopen some public schools on Jan. 19, pre‑K through third graders will attend classes in person four days a week, while fourth and fifth graders will attend two days a week. Online meetings are scheduled for Tuesday with parents at Quinnipiac (5:30 p.m.) and West Rock (6:30 p.m.) schools —which will not reopen, due to ventilation problems — about their students’ in-person and remote options. Elicker said that worldwide data on the lack of spread of Covid-19 among younger grades, combined with the data from area schools that remained open during the pandemic, gave city officials confidence that children will be safe under the plan. Superintendent of Schools Iline Tracey said the school system recruited and trained 80 substitute teachers in advance of the planned (then scuttled) Nov. 9 partial reopening, and is currently getting a crew ready to fill in for teachers who will be staying home for medical reasons. Click here for more detailed plans on the reopening plan.
The link provided for information on school reopening is at odds with the plan discussed by Dr. Tracey and Mayor Elicker - it states that students in grades 6-12 will also have an in-person option.
This is bound to create confusion - not a reassuring start.