人生一定要有的八個朋友：
推手(Builder)、
支柱(Champion)、
同好(Collaborator)、
夥伴(Companion)、
中介(Connector)、
開心果(Energizer)、
開路者(Mind Opener)、
導師(Navigator)。
chutze@bostonorange.com
*******************
All rights of articles and photos on this website are reserved.
Baker-Polito
Administration Announces Weekly At-Home Tests Available for Students and Staff
Enrolled in State’s Testing Programs
Schools Will Have Increased Testing Resources
and Flexibility to Effectively Respond to COVID-19 and Maintain In-Person
Learning
BOSTON — The Department
of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the Department of Public
Health (DPH) announced today updated school COVID-19 testing options, including
providing participating teachers and staff with at-home rapid tests weekly, to
optimize in-person learning. The two departments also released updated data on
the pooled testing and Test and Stay programs, showing very few positive cases
and low transmission rates.At-Home Test Option
Beginning this week, schools will be able to sign up to receive at-home rapid
antigen tests for weekly use by all participating staff and students. Schools
exercising this option will discontinue contact tracing and Test and Stay. This
will enable school health staff to spend more time and resources identifying symptomatic
individuals and focusing on other aspects of COVID-19 management. Schools must
continue to participate in symptomatic and/or pooled testing in order to take
part in the new at-home test program.
Other New England states, including Connecticut and Vermont, have recently
transitioned from individualized contact tracing to the use of at-home tests
and focusing school health efforts on symptomatic testing. This new option will
give Massachusetts school districts more flexibility and more resources in
COVID-19 testing that have the most immediate impact to keep schools open.
Schools will be able to start opting-in to the program this week for staff and
will receive tests during the week of January 24. Schools will receive tests
for students whose families opt-in during the week of January 31.
The at-home tests will be shipped directly to school districts for distribution
and are packaged in kits that contain two tests. Students and staff who
participate will receive one kit every two weeks to test themselves. Families
will need to inform their school if they want at-home rapid antigen tests sent
home with students. If an individual tests positive at home, they should inform
their school of the result. Schools will report positive cases to DESE as part
of the weekly COVID-19 reporting already in place.
The tests for this program will come from the supply of 26 million at-home rapid antigen tests
the Baker-Polito Administration announced last week it ordered from iHealth and
that will be delivered over the next three months. K-12 schools and child care
centers will be prioritized for those tests.
Testing Program Data
With more than 2,000 public and private schools in the Commonwealth
participating in COVID-19 testing, DESE and DPH have gathered robust data about
the prevalence of COVID-19 in schools that clearly illustrates schools are safe
environments for teaching and learning. Schools are one of the few types of
settings in the state where individuals are tested on a regular basis.
Data collected over the past few months from the Test and Stay program is
compelling around what it reveals about school safety. Students and
staff individually identified as asymptomatic close contacts and
repeatedly tested in school through Test and Stay test negative more than 90
percent of the time. As of January 9, 503,312 Test and Stay tests had been
conducted; 496,440 of them were negative (almost 99 percent).
Data from K-12 pooled testing is equally as strong, pointing to the fact that
school is safe. The data reveal that individual positivity rates are
significantly lower than statewide positivity rates. Last week, despite
elevated positivity rates in K-12 schools, the estimated individual positivity
rate was still roughly 1/5 of the statewide positivity rate.
“Massachusetts’ first and most comprehensive in the nation school testing
program has reinforced the fact that our schools remain safe places for
students, teachers and faculty,” said Health and Human Services
Secretary Marylou Sudders. “The Test and Stay program data revealed extremely
low rates of secondary transmission, which shows that close contacts very
rarely test positive.”
“Through experience with our robust K-12 testing programs, we have been able to
learn that in-school transmission is extremely rare, and we understand from
medical professionals and school nurses that now is time to provide additional
options to districts. This increased flexibility will give communities the
ability to do what is best for their students and staff and keep schools open
for learning,” said Education Secretary James Peyser.
“As always, we are committed to using available data to inform our
recommendations to schools and districts. We have heard from school nurses and
superintendents that we need to adapt our strategy to allow them to focus
directly on symptomatic individuals rather than identifying asymptomatic close
contacts,” said Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Jeffrey
C. Riley.
Schools have maintained effective and safe operations all year, including
during periods of high community transmission, by employing robust mitigation
strategies which will remain in place. Public health officials continue to
emphasize the importance of increasing vaccination and booster rates,
monitoring daily for all COVID-specific symptoms, and staying home when sick.
Vaccines
As a reminder, vaccines continue to be the best way to protect all
Massachusetts residents against the effects of COVID-19, and Massachusetts has
among the highest vaccinations rates in the country for adults and adolescents.
Students and staff are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated. Schools can
host mobile vaccination clinics to continue to
provide access to vaccines and boosters for staff and students.
