WYOMING, Mich — Godfrey-Lee Public Schools is the first in West Michigan to offer rapid COVID-19 tests to students and staff.
According to a press release Wednesday, the district is has rapid response saliva tests available to all students and staff with symptoms consistent with COVID-19.
The testing program is a pilot conducted in collaboration with the Kent County Health Department and Arctic Medical Laboratories.
There is no cost to students or families. Students or staff that are flagged by the daily health screener will be eligible for testing. Results become available within 24 hours.
"Testing is another mitigation strategy we believe to be critical in keeping our schools open for in person learning," Superintendent Kevin Polston said in the release.
"Once we learn valuable lessons from this pilot with the Godfrey-Lee school district, we will offer this rapid test resource to other Kent County School districts," Joann Hoganson, MSN, RN, Community Wellness Division Director at the county health department. "Our goal is to identify COVID-19 students and staff quickly so that they can be isolated. This will help prevent the spread of the virus in the schools."
Similar to other testing sites in Kent County, private health insurance or Medicaid will be billed for the testing. The Kent County Health Department is using CARES Act funding to pay for tests for uninsured individuals to make testing accessible to all.
This comes after districts in Kent ISD have partnered with the county health department to release a public COVID-19 dashboard, which is designed to keep parents and members of the public informed on the status of COVID-19 cases in their schools and districts.
The dashboard includes information on COVID-19 cases, those currently in isolation and the current number of outbreaks in schools (defined as two or more cases with a connection within the school). Users can also see if a case involves a staff or student and whether the student is onsite or part of a virtual program.
The dashboard is available on the Kent ISD’s website.
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