Free coronavirus rapid test kits to be given out at Kingston City Hall on Monday – The Daily Freeman

KINGSTON, N.Y. Free coronavirus rapid at-home test kits are set to be distributed from City Hall starting Monday, Dec. 20, according to Mayor Steve Noble.

The city will distribute 500 test kits from Ulster County after county officials obtained 33,000 of them this week.

They will be given out at City Hall, 420 Broadway, on Monday from 10 a.m. to noon.

The initiative will assist schools and businesses in remaining open, and will allow residents to take a test before gathering with family, friends, and those at higher risk for Covid-19, a press release from Nobles office said.

Each kit has two tests, which use shallow nasal swabs and provide results in 15 minutes.

More than 500 test kits, half of what was available, were handed out on Tuesday at the Andy Murphy III Midtown Neighborhood Center on Broadway, with the help of Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan.

The remaining 500 testing kits will be available in the Mayors Office at City from Monday, Dec. 20 to Wednesday, December 22, between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. until supplies run out. City Hall will be closed on December 23-24 for the Christmas holiday.

Masks must be worn at all times in City Hall, and people must sign in when entering the building.

Our wish is that everyone would have a safe and healthy holiday, and these tests will help families to have a Covid test before gathering and potentially exposing others, Noble said. The county, along with us here in Kingston, are working hard to slow the spread of Covid, which has ticked up in recent days. I hope the reassurance of a negative test will help you celebrate safely and brighten your holidays.

Here are local COVID-19 statistics:

Ulster County: 982, down from 989 reported the previous day.

Dutchess County:1,420 down from, 1,452, reported the previous day.

Ulster County: 22,518 confirmed cases, 21,225 recoveries; and 311 deaths. (Two new deaths reported Wednesday).

Dutchess County: 39,956 confirmed cases and 38,015 recoveries, 62 residents hospitalized, and one new death, making the total 521.

Ulster County: 6.7% daily.

Dutchess County: 5.8% 7-day average.

Data as of Tuesday fromthe New York states online vaccine tracker.

Ulster County: 69.5% fully vaccinated, 77% with at least one dose of a two-dose regimen, 85.8% of 18+ population with at least one dose.

Dutchess County: 64% fully vaccinated, 71.9% with at least one dose of a two-dose regimen, 81.2% of 18+ population with at least one dose.

Here are the most recent reports of COVID cases in area school districts.

Kingston: One student each at Chambers Elementary School and Ernest C. Meyer Elementary School and two students and one staff at J. Watson Bailey Middle School.

New Paltz: One student at the high school.

Onteora: One teacher at the high school and one student at Reginald Bennett Elementary School.

Saugerties: One student at the junior high school.

Wallkill: One student each at Leftondale Elementary School and the high school and two students at Plattekill Elementary School.

Ellenville: One student each at Ellenville Elementary and the high school.

Marlboro: One student at the elementary school and middle school.

Pine Plains: Cold Spring early Learning Center

Red Hook: One student at Mill Road Primary School and one staff at the high school.

Kingston Catholic School: One teacher.

Ulster BOCES: One teacher at BOCES Ulster Special Education.

Appointments:vaccinateulster.com,bit.ly/dut-vax,bit.ly/ny-vaxme.

For online local coverage related to the coronavirus, go todailyfreeman.com/tag/coronavirus.

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Free coronavirus rapid test kits to be given out at Kingston City Hall on Monday - The Daily Freeman