WASHINGTON D.C. (KNX) — President Joe Biden's administration is doubling down efforts to keep the nation's students safe and healthy for in-person learning, by announcing Wednesday a commitment to provide schools across the the United States 10 million COVID-19 tests per month.
"With the additional ten million tests per month, we will make available to schools more than double the volume of testing that took place in schools across the nation in November 2021," Biden's team said in a statement.
The 10 million tests per month will include five million free, rapid tests to schools. The administration said the CDC is working with states to determine high-need school districts that require additional tests.
The other five million monthly tests will be free, lab-based PCR tests, to allow schools "to perform individual and pooled testing in classrooms nationwide."
Additionally, the White House will deploy federal surge testing units to provide access to free testing for students, school staff, and families at community sites.
"Opportunities to support K-12 schools may include locating federal testing units on or near school grounds, establishing specific operating hours for students, their families, and school staff, or dedicating a specific portion of daily testing to school communities," Biden's team said.
Schools will also be connected to COVID-19 test providers to set up school programs with American Rescue Plan Funds.
To date, efforts by the Biden Administration have resulted in 96% of schools opening for in-person instruction this month — up from 46% of schools in at that start of last year, Biden's team said.
Test to stay training
Last month the CDC released new guidelines for allowing students who have tested positive for the virus to stay in the classroom during quarantine periods as long as they wear masks and tests at least two times in the seven days following exposure.
"Test to stay programs are an effective approach for identifying and containing infection at school," the administration said, adding that the guidelines also help schools minimize and avoid interruptions to in-person instruction.
