10M COVID Tests Monthly To U.S. Schools: What It Means In WA
OLYMPIA, WA — 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 Washington and across the country 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.
The tests come in addition to a recent order from Gov. Jay Inslee, which will put 1 million more COVID-19 tests in Washington schools.
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.
Some Washington schools have struggled to adapt to in-person instruction without robust testing: Earlier this week, Lake Washington High School had to shift back into remote learning after an outbreak of COVID-19 caused too many unplanned absences. On Monday, two Seattle schools cancelled classes outright due to COVID-related staffing shortages.
Here’s what the new test initiative means in Washington:
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.
Schools and community clinics across Washington will also be receiving 10 million masks over the coming few weeks. At a conference announcing the purchase, Inslee said he believed the mask and testing orders would be enough to keep students in schools.
"It is our firm and stalwart expectation that we will keep our schools open," the governor said. "In-school education is more effective, and we've had too much learning opportunity loss already."
This article originally appeared on the Lakewood-JBLM Patch
