10M COVID Tests Monthly To U.S. Schools: What It Means In IL

Chicago IL

12 January, 2022

11:52 AM

Description

ILLINOIS — The Biden administration said Wednesday it will provide 10 million free COVID-19 tests a month to U.S. schools to keep classes in person in Illinois and elsewhere amid the omicron surge. The tests — 5 million rapid tests and 5 million lab-based PCR tests — will be available to schools starting this month. The increased federal support for testing is in addition to the more than $10 billion devoted to school-based testing and $130 billion in other efforts to keep kids in the classroom, both authorized in the COVID-19 relief law. President Joe Biden has pushed schools to remain open, citing the academic and social-emotional costs of remote learning. But he has faced mounting criticism over testing shortages as America's 50 million school children and educators returned to the classroom. The White House said 96 percent of schools opened for in-person learning after the holiday break, compared with 46 percent in January 2021. Without adequate testing, critics have said, schools become superspreader settings. In Illinois, public school districts have had free access to Abbott's BinaxNOW rapid test through state and/or local public health departments. This EUA-authorized test is performed on-site with results in 15 minutes, state health officials said. Many school districts have found success using these tests for testing of symptomatic students and for surveilling the overall health of the school community. Districts may also purchase COVID-19 tests using federal pandemic relief dollars. In Chicago, the Chicago Teacher's Union had demanded in negotiations that all CPS students be enrolled in COVID testing by default rather than the current program in which students opt-in to testing with their parents permission. On Wednesday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said that state officials welcomed the White House's assistance in providing testing to schools in Illinois. Pritzker cited a lack of testing as being a major sticking point in negotiations between CPS and its teachers union which resulted in the state providing 350,000 Rapid COVID-19 tests that helped break the impasse and allowed students to return to the classroom on Wednesday. He said that as of Wednesday, state officials have hosted 1,645 on-site vaccine clinics at schools with another 350 scheduled. More than 2 million tests have been provided by the state's SHIELD program and sent more than 1 million RAPID tests to school districts across Illinois, the governor said. However, Pritzker said the state is not in the business of providing testing to every district on an on-going basis, which makes the Biden administration's initiative more welcome, the governor said. But he said that testing, the wearing of masks and vaccinations are needed to keep schools across Illinois open and healthy. "The best place for kids right now is in the classroom," Pritzker said at a news conference Wednesday, adding, "heath and safety must be our primary concern for keeping schools from going remote." He added: "Children and teachers belong in school learning in a healthy environment." Here's what the new test initiative means in Illinois: One goal of the initiative is to close gaps in areas where testing is uneven or nonexistent. States must submit requests to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the additional 5 million free rapid tests per month for high-need districts that can put the tests to immediate use. The first shipments will arrive later this month, according to the White House. The administration said it is immediately expanding lab capacity to support an additional 5 million lab-based PCR tests each month — which will be delivered through Department of Health and Human Services programs funded by coronavirus relief programs. The initiative also targets federally backed testing sites to support school testing programs, including basing Federal Emergency Management Agency sites in schools. Also, the CDC is expected to release new "test-to-stay" guidance this week that allows the use of testing so close contacts of anyone who tested positive for the coronavirus can stay in classrooms.