East Haven To Distribute COVID-19 Test Kits At High School Friday

EAST HAVEN, CT —East Haven will begin distribution of 3,000 COVID-19 at-home rapid test kits in an effort to help curb the spread of the coronavirus this week. Each iHealth kit contains two tests.

Distribution is scheduled for Friday from 10 a.m. to noon at East Haven High School.

“East Haven is experiencing another surge in COVID-19 cases that is being driven mostly by the highly transmissible Omicron variant,” East Haven Mayor Joseph A. Carfora said.

“The demand for tests has outpaced the supply of testing available and these kits are intended only as a stopgap until testing can be ramped up again. We continue to encourage all residents to get vaccinated if they haven’t yet.”

The kits are scarce, according to Carfora, so "with our neighboring towns and East Shore District Health Department established the following criteria in order to receive a kit.

• Must be a town resident, driver’s license or State of Connecticut identification card as proof
• Over the age of 17, children will not be given kits, school age children will receive kits later in January
• Symptomatic; fever, chills, cough
• You have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 or has the symptoms of COVID-19.

Please wear a mask at the distribution point. Residents that have not been vaccinated, or for those who are but have as yet not gotten a booster should visit ct.gov/covidvaccine. The Connecticut Department of Public Health is in the process of adding seven more community testing sites to its current roster of 23 state-sponsored sites. Information on the approximately 400 COVID-19 testing sites currently operating in Connecticut is available by calling 2-1-1 or visiting 211CT.org.

Officials have also moved to ensure that vulnerable populations get tests, too, especially people who don't drive.

“Both Mayor Carfora and I recommended, and (East Haven Fire) Chief Matt Marcarelli agreed, that we should send strategic allocations to Woodview and Messina Drive, in light of the fact many residents at both facilities do not drive and are of a vulnerable population,” state Rep. Joseph Zullo said.

The distribution of N-95 masks will likely arrive next week, officials said, when made available by the state.

If you get a positive test result, what next?

Per the CDC recommendations, if your self-test yields a positive result, please stay home or isolate for 10 days and wear a mask. There is no need to obtain a follow up PCR test. Given the highly infectious nature of the Omicron variant, it is most important to wear any mask both in public spaces and when interacting in close contact with individuals outside of your household.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has granted emergency use authorization for the iHealth COVID-19 antigen rapid test, which is completed with an anterior nasal swab and is not the deep nasal test. The complete instructions for the at-home rapid test are available on
the iHealth packaging in English and Spanish. Results are usually available in 15 minutes. More information on the iHealth antigen home test kits is available at ihealthlabs.com.