More students will soon have access to take home PCR self-collection kits.
On Thursday, Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced all publicly funded schools will be provided with the tests starting in mid-November in hopes of preventing schools from having to close and classes having to be sent home when COVID-19 cases are confirmed.
“By expanding access to testing and helping to better screen for COVID-19, we are protecting the progress we have made so far in keeping our schools safer for students and helping to limit disruption to the school year. These additional efforts build on the extensive safety protocols and investments we have made to protect schools," said Lecce.
Students with COVID-19 symptoms and students who have been identified as close contacts of a confirmed case will be able to pick up the self-collection kits, complete the specimen collection at home, and drop it off at "convenient locations" in the community.
These take-home kits have been used at 160 schools in the Toronto area since September.
The province is also starting a "test-to-stay" approach for asymptomatic, unvaccinated students using rapid antigen screening tests. Public health units will be able to use this approach to avoid whole school dismissals. This would involve administering screening tests over a 10 day period for asymptomatic students in a school where multiple cases have been identified.
Identified high-risk close contacts would still be advised to self-isolate.