Routine Covid testing can help schools stay open this year

Covid-19 testing data can help schools stay open this year - STAT Testing for SARS-CoV-2 is an underappreciated tool that can give schools real-time and context-specific situational awareness. Patrick Skerrett STAT

Fearing outbreaks, many schools are scrambling to adjust their reopening plans. Discussions about school safety have largely focused on mitigation measures like improving ventilation and requiring students and staff to wear masks and get vaccinated. Some have also noted the value of routine school-wide testing of students and staff for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, to detect infections early and prevent transmission.

We believe that discussions of different strategies often overlook another important benefit of testing: providing information to help schools know when they need to add these new mitigation measures and when, after the Delta surge retreats, it’s safe to ease up. Testing for SARS-CoV-2 is an underappreciated tool to inform planning and decision-making by providing real-time, context-specific situational awareness. ...

ALSO SEE: Where Are the Tests? Other countries are awash in Covid tests. The U.S. is not. --NY Times