NC schools will be able to do free COVID-19 tests of students and staff. Here’s how.
North Carolina is starting a free program to help public schools conduct COVID-19 tests of students and school employees.
The federal government is providing North Carolina with 3.1 million COVID-19 antigen tests that allow for rapid determination of a positive result using a nasal swab. State Department of Health and Human Services leaders said Thursday that they will begin accepting applications from school districts and charter schools to use the antigen tests as part of a free pilot program.
School districts, working with their local health departments, will use the tests on students and staff who screen positive with COVID symptoms or are a close contact of someone positive for COVID-19. The schools could get the tests as soon as Dec. 14.
“The point about testing will be about early identification of people who may be positive so that we can then more quickly put in those control measures to prevent spread through the school.” state health director Betsey Tilson told the State Board of Education on Thursday
Tilson said the results will allow schools to quickly isolate and quarantine people.
Parental permission would be required before the tests could be given to students.
Susan Gale Perry, chief deputy secretary of DHHS, said the program will continue for as long as siupplies. She said the state is hoping the federal government will provide additional testing kits.
Vaccine distribution discussed
Also on Thursday, health officials gave an update on the distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine that could begin as soon as the end of the year. But Tilson said large amounts of the vaccine won’t likely be available until the spring.
In the meantime, Tilson said people need to continue practicing the 3Ws of wearing a face mask, waiting at least 6 feet apart and washing your hands regularly.
School employees who are at high risk due to health complications are scheduled to get the vaccine during Phase 1B. Phase 1A, the first phase, is health care workers at high risk for COVID-19 exposure and staff and residents at long-term care facilities.
Other school employees would get it during Phase 2.
Depending on the results of clinical trials, K-12 students and college students would get the vaccine in Phase 3.
Tilson said the public should be confident that shortcuts were not made with safety in getting a vaccine developed.
State board member James Ford warned that health leaders will need to overcome the fears that many Black people have after the history of “breaches of trust” such as the Tuskegee syphilis experiment and the Flint water crisis.”
Tilson said health leaders recognize the “historical trauma” and are working with historically marginalized populations to address their concerns and ensure equitable distribution of the vaccine.
“We are thinking of who are our trusted voices,” Tilson said. “It is our Black faith leaders. It is our Black physicians. They are an incredibly trusted voice.”
This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 10:55 AM.
