Omicron Back-To-School Guide: What NYC Parents Need To Know

NEW YORK, NY — The usual relief of sending kids back to school after a busy holiday break will likely come with a new level of anxiety this year for New York City parents — who have watched coronavirus numbers driven by the omicron variant rise across the city.

A record-breaking spike in coronavirus cases that started before 1 million public school students were sent home for winter break has only intensified as the Jan. 3 return date approaches.

And while kids were unwrapping gifts or staying up past bedtime to ring in the New Year, city officials were busy adjusting school protocols to meet the coronavirus surge.

But not to worry, Patch has compiled everything you need to know before heading back to the classroom:

Where does the coronavirus surge stand?

Before Christmas, New York state broke its new positive COVID case count record three days in a row, including 22,478 people testing positive that Sunday — 12,404 of which who live in New York City, according to data.

The daily case count in New York City had risen to nearly double that the week after the holidays.

On Tuesday, Dec. 28, there were 21,846 new cases detected in the city, according to the Mayor's Office. The city's record, set days earlier, counted 31,024 new cases in one day.

In New York City's schools, coronavirus cases were also on the rise before the holidays. Though, health officials have pointed out the virus spreads at a much lower rate given masks, staff vaccine mandates and other measures in place in public school classrooms.

As of Dec. 28, 163 classrooms were fully closed, 3,316 classrooms were partially closed and eight schools were closed across the five boroughs due to coronavirus cases.

A total of 131 schools had been investigated for possible coronavirus outbreaks since the start of the school year, more than 100 of which were completed in just the last month.

It is also important to note that hospitalizations have mounted specifically among the city's youngest citizens, mostly among those who are not vaccinated or are too young to get the shot. Hospitalizations for COVID-19 among children in New York City rose almost fivefold between the early days of December to the end of the month, state officials said.

What is the city doing about it?

To prepare for the return of students in January, the city has compiled a stock of 2 million at-home coronavirus test kits from the state.

The kits will drive a new testing protocol that New York City officials hope will keep more classrooms open.

Starting Jan. 3, test kits will be sent to students who've had contact with the virus in the classroom. Instead of automatically switching to remote learning, asymptomatic students who test negative on the at-home kit can go back to school the next day and will be given a second at-home test within a week, according to officials.

The city will also ramp up in-school testing to address the surge.

The number of in-school coronavirus tests will double in the New Year and will now expand to vaccinated students, as well as those who are unvaccinated, according to the city.

As they have been all year, parents will be required to send in a consent form to have their child participate in the coronavirus tests.

Is it enough to keep kids safe?

Though officials agree the more tests the better, the city's response to the omicron spike isn't without its critics.

Both the City Council's Education Committee chair and union officials have said the amped-up testing policy didn't come soon enough and still fails to address an underlying problem of parents not giving consent to test their kids in school.

Coronavirus testing in city schools requires parents to send in a consent form, which according to officials has so far lagged among unvaccinated families.

As of last week, about 330,000 of New York City's unvaccinated families had opted in to in-school testing so far, a number Mayor Bill de Blasio expects to ramp up as vaccinated families are extended the option for in-school testing.

Elected officials have also debated the approach of testing students when they return to school buildings, instead of requiring tests or sending out at-home test kits during the winter break. De Blasio has said officials determined testing over the break wasn't feasible.

De Blasio and health officials have argued that classrooms are the safest place for city kids, noting that data shows less than 1 percent of students exposed in public schools came down with the virus. Outside of schools, more than 14 percent of people exposed catch COVID-19, according to officials.

"Schools have been safe and schools are where kids need to be," de Blasio said.

Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi said health officials estimate that the highly-infectious omicron will only increase the rate of those who come down with coronavirus after being exposed from 0.83 percent to 2 percent.

Is there anything else I should do?

The best way to protect kids from coronavirus is still to get those who are old enough vaccinated against the virus, according to health officials.

Around half of the New York pediatric hospitalizations due to COVID from Dec. 5 to the week starting on Dec. 19 are kids under the age of five — who are not eligible to be vaccinated.

None of the children recently hospitalized in New York between the ages of 5 and 11 were fully vaccinated and only one-quarter of the 12 to 17-year-old patients were fully vaccinated, according to the health memo from the state Department of Health.

"It is affecting children more, but the ones who are getting severely sick are, so far, only the unvaccinated children," Gov. Kathy Hochul has said.

Parents can also take their kids to get tested outside of the city's public schools.

To find a place to get tested for COVID-19, use the city's official map or visit a walk-in Health + Hospitals site. To get vaccinated or boosted, visit vaccinefinder.nyc.gov.