Schenectady County is partnering with Ellis Medicine to make COVID-19 testing more accessible and reduce the time students and staff are out of school during the omicron surge.

A community testing site for students, their families and school staff opened in the heart of Schenectady, making COVID testing more accessible to residents.

Tests are provided at no cost, and results are provided in as quick as 24 hours.

Schenectady County Interim Public Health Director Keith Brown said he hopes the new testing site makes it easier for families to find tests for their children if they are exposed.

“Kids were missing time in school, and it was really putting a stress on families and parents," Brown said. "We really wanted to focus our initial role out on families and students related to schools so we could hopefully meet those needs. You’ve heard about other districts going remote. We’re going virtual and we really want to try to avoid that at all costs here, so we’re trying to give as many tools to our community and our schools as possible to keep kids there.”

For more information, visit the Schenectady County website.