ICMR has developed a COVID-19 test kit that detects Omicron in less than 2 hours
Yana Kunichoff | Arizona Republic
As classroom quarantine notices surged and Arizona’s COVID-19 cases ticked up this week, Madison Elementary School District sent parents a disheartening email: It may have to suspend its test-to-stay program.
The program, which allowed students exposed to the virus but who tested negative to remain in school, was a key part of the district’s efforts to minimize disruption to in-person learning. Also at risk was the district’s regular batch testing program.
“We have found a vendor that can provide us with a two-week supply. However, we are not sure when that shipment will arrive,” the email said. “This could mean staff and students may have to quarantine at home if they cannot be tested.”
In Arizona, where schools pick and choose their own mitigation measures, districts that relied on regular batch testing or test-to-stay programs are being affected by the COVID-19 test shortage that’s also hit testing centers and hospitals around the country.
That’s left districts to work to procure tests on their own, rely on outside operators that are themselves facing a surge in demand, or hope parents are able to procure tests independently.
And while local health departments are working with schools to order tests or find workarounds and the White House promised this week to distribute millions of tests to schools, those tests may not come soon enough for the day-to-day growth in COVID-19 cases in Arizona.
