Washington (Trends Wide) — The Biden administration on Wednesday announced new initiatives to provide an additional 10 million COVID-19 tests per month to schools and students in an effort to keep classrooms open.
The administration will distribute 5 million free rapid tests and 5 million free PCR tests to schools each month, according to an administration fact sheet.
The Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency will establish “surge” testing sites in communities with high transmission. And the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will work with the Department of Education to help connect school districts with testing providers their states have already contracted to test for COVID-19. in the schools.
“Students have sacrificed much over the course of the pandemic, and the president has been clear in his words and actions that his administration will do everything possible to keep schools open safely for all students,” the sheet said. informative.
The announcement comes as the number of US patients hospitalized with COVID-19 reaches record levels, and many parents are questioning the safety of their children. Public health experts have repeatedly stressed the need to expand COVID-19 testing in schools, but it’s unclear what impact the administration’s latest effort will have on the volume of students returning to classrooms. About 53 million students attended public elementary and secondary schools in 2019, according to the US Census Bureau.
According to the CDC, COVID-19 testing must be offered to students at least once a week when community transmission is at moderate, substantial, or high levels.
Some cities and school districts are already cracking down on the spread of the omicron variant in the country.
Several Atlanta-area school districts have delayed in-person classes and started 2022 with distance learning. In Washington, public school students and staff must show negative COVID-19 tests before returning from vacation.
And in New York City, public school students who test positive will get a week of at-home testing so they can know when it’s safest to return to school.
Aligning with its latest quarantine and isolation recommendations, the CDC earlier this month updated guidance for COVID-19 prevention in elementary and secondary schools. Students, teachers and staff with COVID-19 must stay home and isolate themselves from others for at least five days, according to the guidance. Day 0 is considered the first day of symptoms or the day of a positive viral test for people who do not have symptoms.
People whose symptoms are improving can be released from isolation after a full five days if they are fever-free for 24 hours, the CDC said. They must wear a mask around others for an additional five days.
Trends Wide’s Holly Yan and John Bonifield contributed to this report.