Participating Massachusetts schools to receive COVID-19 tests

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (and the Department of Defense recently announced an initiative to deliver 150 million Abbott BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag Card Point of Care SARS-CoV-2 rapid diagnostic tests to schools and other strategic environments.

According to Jeffrey Riley, Commissioner of Massachusetts Elementary and Secondary Education, over the course of the school year, Massachusetts will obtain approximately 2 million tests for use in priority settings including but not limited to public districts, charter schools, educational collaboratives, and approved special education schools. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in collaboration with the Department of Public Health is seeking to introduce the first phase of these tests with an initial group of districts and schools.

Participating districts and schools will receive the test kits at no cost, and in most cases, administer the test using existing staff resources.

Phase I is intended for districts and schools providing any type of in-person instruction, such as full-in person or hybrid instructional models or in-person services for high needs students.

To administer the test in a school setting, a district or school must apply for one CLIA Certificate of Waiver.

Massachusetts districts and schools participating in this initiative must report test results to the Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Infectious Diseases and Laboratory Sciences and report positive test results to DESE’s Rapid Response Help Unit.

The Abbott BinaxNOW test can be used in the following situations:
• Students and staff with symptoms consistent with COVID-19
• Students and staff with minimal symptoms (e.g., isolated runny nose, sore throat, abdominal pain without fever, not meeting symptoms consistent with COVID-19).
• The Abbott BinaxNOW test is not to be used for broad scale asymptomatic testing in the school at this time.