Test to Stay keeps Lake County kids in classrooms
A new Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released confirms that the Test to Stay strategy can help keep kindergarten through 12th grade students in the classroom.
The Test to Stay strategy is an option for allowing close contacts who are not fully vaccinated to remain in the classroom as an alternative to home quarantine.
"Children and their parents have been impacted by the different school learning models (remote, hybrid and in person) and other interruptions throughout the COVID-19 pandemic," Lake County Health Department Executive Director Mark Pfister said.
"Vaccination remains the best way to protect against COVID-19 for those ages 5 years and older, but the Test to Stay strategy is an option for allowing close contacts to keep kids in the classroom.
"The Test to Stay strategy has allowed students and staff to benefit from in-person learning while being protected from COVID-19. This is exciting progress from where we were at the start of the pandemic."
In collaboration with the CDC and Illinois Department of Public Health, the Lake County Health Department assisted K-12 schools in implementing Test to Stay in August 2021. CDC sent a team to Lake County to support data management and the analysis of COVID-19 school data.
During the study period, Aug. 9 to Oct. 29, 90 Test to Stay schools reported 258 cases of COVID-19. Among 1,035 students and staff enrolled in Test to Stay, secondary cases only accounted for 1.5% of the students. Assuming eight missed school days for every 10-day quarantine, 8,152 in-person learning days were saved among close contacts.
"We are grateful to all the schools, students, and parents that have helped us successfully implement the Test to Stay program," said Dr. Sana Ahmed, medical epidemiologist at the Lake County Health Department.
"While Test to Stay can minimize disruption for parents and unvaccinated students, it requires resources that schools may not have. Test to Stay is most effective when schools are able to use funding and resources effectively for planning and implementation."
Implementation of Test to Stay with layered prevention strategies did not lead to further spread within the K-12 school setting and allowed students to sustain in-person learning. This report demonstrates the importance of layered mitigation in reducing the spread of COVID-19.
The MMWR featuring the Lake County Health Department and Lake County Schools can be found at www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm705152e2.htm.
Schools interested in establishing a K-12 testing program using the SHIELD Illinois PCR saliva test can complete an interest form at bit.ly/interestedSHIELD.
SHIELD Illinois is also able to offer BinaxNOW rapid antigen testing along with its standard weekly saliva testing program. Schools interested in implementing a pre-K-12 testing program using the BinaxNOW rapid antigen test can email dph.antigentesting@illinois.gov.
Complete information on testing can be found in the IDPH Interim Guidance on Testing for COVID-19 in Community Settings and Schools, available at dph.illinois.gov.