--- title: NYC Schools To Reopen Jan. 3, With More COVID-19 Testing description: New York City schools will reopen Jan. 3 as planned, with double the amount of COVID-19 testing. canonical: https://time.com/6131866/new-york-schools-reopen/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2021-12-28T15:50:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T10:40:56.495Z article:section: Health og:title: NYC Schools To Reopen Jan. 3, With More COVID-19 Testing og:description: New York City schools will reopen Jan. 3 as planned, with double the amount of COVID-19 testing. og:url: https://time.com/6131866/new-york-schools-reopen/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc56194cd01f8d1b1/698a21198fd2ee2df43635ce/nyc-schools-covid-19-vaccine.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Children's Vaccine Clinic Held At New York City Public School og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: NYC Schools To Reopen Jan. 3, With More COVID-19 Testing twitter:description: New York City schools will reopen Jan. 3 as planned, with double the amount of COVID-19 testing. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc56194cd01f8d1b1/698a21198fd2ee2df43635ce/nyc-schools-covid-19-vaccine.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # New York City Schools Will Reopen Jan. 3, With Increased COVID-19 Testing ## Video: Dr. Leana Wen | Back to School [Watch (HLS stream): Dr. Leana Wen | Back to School](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/AndjArRw.m3u8) (9:08)  _Published 2021-08-06. DR. Leana Wen on prioritizing students health and safety. Interviewed by Abby Rogers, TIME for Kids Kid Reporter._ by [Laura Nahmias / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Laura Nahmias / Bloomberg Dec 28, 2021 3:50 PM UTC  Christopher Reyes, 9, fist bumps Chancellor Meisha Porter after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine at P.S. 19 on Nov. 8, 2021 in the Lower East Side in New York City. Christopher Reyes, 9, fist bumps Chancellor Meisha Porter after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine at P.S. 19 on Nov. 8, 2021 in the Lower East Side in New York City.Michael M. Santiago—Getty Images by [Laura Nahmias / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Laura Nahmias / Bloomberg Dec 28, 2021 3:50 PM UTC New York City will double COVID-19 PCR testing in schools when students return in January, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. De Blasio, Mayor-elect Eric Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul all spoke on Tuesday at a virus briefing of the importance of bringing students back to school in January, for kids and for parents. Schools are the “safest places to be in New York City,” de Blasio said. “Your children are safer in school,” Adams said during the briefing. He and de Blasio said they have been working closely planning for Jan. 3, when schools will reopen. The new approach for schools in January is called “stay safe and stay open,” the mayor said. Under his plan, the city plans to distribute at-home testing kits to classrooms when a student tests positive. All students who are asymptomatic and test negative will be able to return to schools. Students will take two at-home tests over the course of seven days, he said. Hochul said she sent 600,000 rapid tests to the city last week. The state and the city are working to make sure there’s no shortage of supply, Hochul said. New York City has reported a daily average of more than 20,000 confirmed and probable cases in the past week. That’s more than double the daily average over the past 28 days. While cases are at a record, hospitalizations and deaths remain well below record highs reached in 2020. In schools, about 98% of close contacts do not end up developing COVID-19, Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi said during the briefing. Ventilation, testing and vaccination all make schools safer than elsewhere, he said. --- ### More from TIME --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6131866/new-york-schools-reopen/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6131866/new-york-schools-reopen/"},"headline":"New York City Schools Will Reopen Jan. 3, With Increased COVID-19 Testing","datePublished":"2021-12-28T15:50:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T10:40:56.495Z","description":"New York City schools will reopen Jan. 3 as planned, with double the amount of COVID-19 testing.","url":"https://time.com/6131866/new-york-schools-reopen/","keywords":["COVID-19","healthscienceclimate","bloomberg wire"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc56194cd01f8d1b1/698a21198fd2ee2df43635ce/nyc-schools-covid-19-vaccine.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Nahmias / Bloomberg"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc56194cd01f8d1b1/698a21198fd2ee2df43635ce/nyc-schools-covid-19-vaccine.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Children's Vaccine Clinic Held At New York City Public School","caption":"Children's Vaccine Clinic Held At New York City Public School","creditText":"Michael M. 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