EAST BRUNSWICK–Wanting to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 within East Brunswick Public Schools, Mayor Brad Cohen spoke about the creation of a testing and contact tracing program.
“I am working with the township, the Board of Education and the county, along with,help from the Air Force Academy’s Pandemic Team, to try to come up with a testing and contact tracing program for our public schools,” Cohen said. “[The program] will allow us to test people on a regular basis, at enough of an interval and frequency that we should be able to keep the spread of disease down.”
On Sept. 21 during the Township Council meeting, Cohen said this program will help prevent the spread of COVID-19; however, though there is no cure or vaccine yet, it will help to at least keep the spread to a point that the district could identify people early enough so it could take them out of the system.
Cohen said the program will allow schools to operate effectively using this type of testing program.
“East Brunswick, if approved, is going to be a pilot program basically for the county,” Cohen said. “If it continues to prove effective we’re hoping that other school systems will adopt the same program as a way of being able to keep schools open throughout this pandemic in a safe manner, following all the guidelines that schools are already operating under.
Cohen said by continuing to use safety and social distance protocols such as safe distancing, washing of hands and the use of masks, he thinks hopefully the township’s school district can prove to be a model for other districts.
For more information, visit www.eastbrunswick.org/129/Agendas-Minutes.
Contact Vashti Harris at vharris@newspapermediagroup.com.
