The ways in which various COVID-19 testing schedules can contribute to school safety

Many educators and parents are looking forward to seeing their children return to the classroom and leave Zoom school behind as October approaches. But while schools race to get ready, the highly transmissible delta variety poses a danger to their hopes. Schools should implement a range of COVID-19 mitigation strategies, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These strategies include social distance, masking for both teachers and children, enhancing air filtration, and routine testing of pupils.

According to Alyssa Bilinski, an infectious disease modeler at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, testing in particular “is a way we can spend money to reduce transmission while maintaining in-person school time.” It’s a versatile instrument that may be adjusted in size based on the conditions on the ground. It can both halt transmission and give current, school-specific data that is useful for making decisions.

The CDC reports that although there were a few coronavirus outbreaks in schools during the previous academic year, the transmission of the virus was typically at or below the levels found in the community, particularly in those where mitigating measures were in place. Even as the delta variation fuels a statewide spike in COVID-19 cases, many school districts are now under pressure to eliminate policies like masking, social distance, and testing as pandemic fatigue sets in.19 instances