With 20,000 students in COVID quarantine, MS offers free rapid testing for K-12 schools
With 800 of Mississippi’s schools reporting COVID outbreaks and more than 20,000 students statewide under quarantine, the Mississippi State Department of Health is recommending a school regimen that must be followed on all counts to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Dr. Paul Byers, epidemiologist at the state’s health department, said schools must follow all these guidelines to limit transmission:
- Opt into weekly rapid testing of asymptomatic students, teachers and staff who are unvaccinated, with tests provided by MSDH.
- Universal wearing of masks in schools.
- Social distancing at least 3 feet apart in classrooms and 6 feet apart outside classrooms.
Byers said all the recommendations follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. He said some Mississippi schools are picking and choosing which of the recommendations they want to follow, which won’t work.
An increase in COVID cases fueled by the delta strain of COVID-19 is forcing some schools to switch to virtual learning, including at least six in South Mississippi. The state’s latest weekly report of school quarantines and outbreaks is expected early this week.
Pediatrician calls for school mask mandates
Gov. Tate Reeves has assured Mississippians that no mask mandates, including for schools, will be coming from his office even as the state experiences a record surge of COVID-19 and at least five children have died from the virus.
Only 600 K-12 schools are requiring masks, Byers said. In the previous school year, the state had mask requirements for 1,200 K-12 public schools.
“We are asking all physicians and parents to call and lobby their superintendents and school boards to institute universal masks in schools,” Dr. Anita Henderson, president of Mississippi’s chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said Tuesday during a physician’s panel discussion on COVID-19 in children.
“We are going to need to do this on a district-by-district basis as it looks like we will not get a statewide recommendation.”
State COVID testing for schools
Byers discussed the health department’s school testing initiative during the panel discussion. Public, private and charter schools can opt in for the rapid-antigen tests from MSDH, but he said few private schools are taking advantage of the program.
The testing is for asymptomatic students, teachers and staff, he said, and should be conducted weekly. Symptomatic teachers, students and staff should be quarantining and getting tested outside the school system, he said, while weekly testing is not needed for those who have been vaccinated.
While MSDH is initially providing the tests, vendor agreements MSDH manages will support on-site testing. Vendors will contact all schools in the state to determine if they want to participate.
“It’s voluntary for the schools to even participate,” Byers said. “They don’t have to participate if they don’t want to.”
Henderson said there is some shortage of testing supplies because of so many COVID-19 cases and school quarantines.
“We’re starting to see a little bit of that now,” Byers said. “ . . . We do try to provide some rapid tests for clinics and we are procuring additional rapid tests . . . I think it’s really an indication of the overall increased demand for testing.”
