Official website of NYS Governor, Andrew M. Cuomo. Provides current information on the NYS COVID-19 response, news releases, executive orders, and breakdown of cases by county. Email subscription is available to provide daily updates to your inbox.

Updated CDC Information for School Nurses and Other Healthcare Personnel (HCP) Working in Schools and Child Care Settings

School nurses and other healthcare personnel (HCP) play an important role in opening schools and child care programs for in-person learning and other in-person activities and keeping them open during the COVID-19 pandemic. School nurses and other HCP will likely be evaluating children for symptoms or exposures, assisting administrators and teachers in implementing mitigation strategies, assisting with contact tracing, maintaining school-based clinics, assisting in school-based testing strategies, and supporting students, families, and staff. The information and resources on this page can help in performing these new roles and responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Resources for self-care are also included.

NEW INFORMATION ON TESTING FROM GOVERNOR CUOMO RELEASED 11/30/20  

Governor Cuomo Announces Winter Plan to Combat COVID-19 Surge in New York State

Key Information for Schools is Strategy 3 - Keep Schools Open Safely

One of the most critical aspects of managing the COVID-19 pandemic for governments and parents alike has been answering the question of how and when schools should remain open. On that point, experts from around the globe have determined that as long as a school's infection rate is under control and remains under the infection rate of the community at large, schools should remain open, particularly for students in K-8. Not only does the school provide parents with support in terms of childcare, it provides a regularity to life which has been missing for so many children throughout this pandemic. 

Under New York's Winter Plan, efforts will be focused on keeping K-8 and Special Education schools are kept open as long as it can be done safely. The first step will be to establish sustainable, ongoing testing in schools so that they can continue operating in the long term.

As part of this, schools located in Orange and Red micro-cluster zones will be required to conduct weekly testing. Schools in Orange Zones will be required to test 20% of in-person students, faculty, and staff over the course of a month, and schools in Red Zones will be required to test 30% of in-person students, faculty, and staff over a month. Pool testing will be allowed as well.

These protocols represent the minimum standard required for schools to stay open and the state may adjust requirements for specific districts based on any special circumstances which may arise. While local districts are able to close at levels under the state's mandatory closure rule, they are urged to keep K-8 schools open whenever it is safe.

You can view this on the Governor's Website here.

IMPORTANT UPDATE REGARDING AN EXTENSION FOR TESTING IN YELLOW MICRO-CLUSTER ZONES From the NYS Department of Health (NYSDOH) Education Constituents Team (11/25/20)
Please read this information received by the NYS Center for School Health on 11/27/20 Regarding Updated Micro-Cluster Focus Zones Going into Effect for Schools on 11/26 and Extension of Testing Timeframe for Schools located in Yellow Zones 

Navigating K-12 educational challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic: Working together to identify resources and supports to strengthen families through this crisis

This PowerPoint reviews the importance of collaboration and shared goals between school personnel and child welfare workers to:

• Identify expectations/best practices for school personnel and child welfare workers
• Understand the role of the NY Statewide Central Register for Child Abuse and Maltreatment (SCR) regarding educational neglect calls
• Identify strategies both systems can use in working together to support families and keep children safe.
• Rueduce student attendance barriers and chronic absenteeism
• Child welfare
• Successful partnerships for support.

It was originally presented on 11/5/20.

View it here.

ADDITIONAL ADDENDUM to Interim Guidance on Mandatory COVID-19 Testing in Public and Non-Public Schools Located in Areas Designated as “Yellow Zones” Under the New York State Cluster Action Initiative (Updated November 14, 2020)

Pursuant to the Interim Guidance on Mandatory COVID-19 Testing in Public and Non-Public Schools Located in Areas Designated as “Yellow Zones” Under the New York State Cluster Action Initiative, the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) has determined that schools open to in-person instruction in yellow zones are required to test 20% of in-person students, teachers and staff, at least once a week for as long as the school remains in a designated yellow zone.

UPDATE: Effective the week of November 16, 2020, schools in yellow zones must test 20% of in-person students, faculty and staff over the two-week period immediately following the announcement of a yellow zone designation. If the results of the testing reveal that the positivity rate among the 20% of those tested is lower than the yellow zone’s current 7-day positivity rate, testing at that school will no longer be required to continue. A positivity rate in a school that is lower than in the yellow zone is a sufficient demonstration that in-person instruction is not a significant driver of local viral spread. The current positivity rate for zones can be found at, https://forward.ny.gov/percentage-positive-results-county-dashboard. However, if the results of the testing over the first two weeks reveal that the positivity rate among in-person student, staff and faculty is higher than the Yellow Zone’s current 7-day positivity rate, the school will be required to continue to test 20% of the in-person population on a bi-weekly basis.

Read the entire NYSDOH memo on the NYS Forward Website.

Interim Guidance on Mandatory COVID-19 Testing in Public and Non-Public Schools Located in Designated "Yellow Zones" 

This information has been updated from October 12, 2020.

Recommends Schools in Yellow Zones contact their Local DOH and other local health partners to establish partnerships and make arrangements for deployment of tests in their school setting to facilitate required testing. (11/12/20)

The Center has created a dedicated webpage to house all information about COVID testing in schools.

It includes links to all NYSDOH memos, information on NYSCSH, NYSDOH., and CDC information on testing, NYS Micro-Cluster Action Initiative, Wadsworth Limited Service Laboratories, Communicable Disease Reporting, and NYS Executive Orders.

It is available below on this webpage under Testing, Tracking, and Monitoring Information

On 11/10/20 the NYS Department of Health provided an extension for enforcement of immunization requirements for school attendance.

A memo titled: Updated Guidance for School Administrators Regarding Limited Temporary Enforcement of Student Immunization Requirement was sent to all NYS school administrators. The memo contains this statement: “In recognition of these factors, the Department will exercise discretion with respect to enforcement of school vaccination requirements and will not enforce the provisions of Public Health Law § 2164(7) for an additional period of 30 days commencing from the date of this letter until December 11, 2020, for students attending school exclusively through remote learning.”