The city of Stamford secured hundreds of rapid coronavirus test kits that will be given to people on the front lines in the coming week.

Stamford's confirmed coronavirus cases topped 1,000 earlier this week, the most of any city in Connecticut.

Mayor David Martin believes more testing is the key to slowing the spread and not just of people with symptoms.\

"We need to test the people who aren't showing the disease as well," said Martin. "Particularly those who are on the front line and those who are taking care of others or people who run our groceries or pharmacies."

Martin joined staff Thursday at DOCS Urgent Care to announce that will happen for the city's first responders. Stamford recently received a shipment of rapid test kits.

"They're able to tell us whether or not somebody has an active infection and it takes 15 minutes. It's a finger prick. It's very similar to somebody testing their blood sugar at home," said Dr. JD Sidana.

Police, firefighters, ambulance workers and hospital staff will be among the nearly 600 people tested next week.

The hope is to roll out rapid testing to other community members in the future provided the city has enough kits.

Sidana says the tests can also determine if a person had COVID-19 and recovered.

Protocols have been put in place for any front-line personnel who test positive with the finger prick test. They will be isolated and then given another test to confirm the initial one.

 The city of Stamford also established a hotline to provide a single resource to residents about coronavirus testing. That number is 1-833-508-8378.