Schools across the Boston area are contending with COVID-19 outbreaks as Christmas nears.
At Boston Latin School, they are dealing with 36 new positive cases.
Thursday is the last school day before the holiday break.
The head of Boston Latin calls the new COVID-19 numbers at the school extremely concerning.
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Most of the cases involve students in the upper grades, and the exposure was from contact outside of school, whether at a social event or among athletic teams.
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All Boston Public Schools students are heading into the break with at-home COVID-19 test kits to try and curb the spread of the virus.
"I think it’s a great idea because you don’t know what kids are doing, what families are doing, what their interactions are outside of school, so it’s a good idea and if you're sick, stay at home," said one parent of a Boston Latin student, Dominique Ambrose.
Boston is not alone in this effort -- Revere gave all of its students test kits, too.
Revere School Superintendent Dianne Kelly said their students have been participating in pool testing and the test-to-stay program, and that testing is a game-changer.
“Testing is hugely important,” she said. “If we can identify who has COVID, isolate them from the community and keep everybody else safe, then we can continue with our in-person learning.”
Revere would like all of their students to take a COVID-19 test before returning to school in early January. At Boston Latin, the students are required to take the at-home test 24 hours before coming back.
