Minnesota health officials want families with kids in school to get tested for the coronavirus every two weeks until the end of the academic year.
Health officials say the increased testing will help limit spread of COVID-19 as students return to classrooms after months of distance learning. In addition to students and their families, health workers, teachers, child care providers and people who participate in youth extracurricular activities are encouraged to routinely be tested.
“Over the past few months, the number of students attending in-person classes has significantly increased, with thousands more expected to return to the classroom in coming weeks,” said Dan Huff, assistant health commissioner. “To protect this progress, we need to use all the tools at our disposal. … Testing can help spot a single case early and prevent it from becoming many cases.”
The routine testing is not a requirement for returning to classrooms or participating in other activities. Yet health officials say routine testing in certain settings is as important as mask wearing and social distancing when it comes to protecting teachers, health care providers and other essential workers.
Schools will not be responsible for overseeing testing of students and their families. Parents are encouraged to use at-home saliva tests, community-based screening sites and their health care providers to screen for the coronavirus every two weeks.
More than 1,700 school buildings around the state are now participating in a program testing educators and there are more testing options for health care providers, child care workers and others.
Testing volume has fallen off in Minnesota since the last surge in cases eased. Minnesota has gone from averaging about 60,000 tests per day in late fall to about 24,000 tests per day in late February.
Health officials say the state has plenty of capacity to meet the increased demand for testing the new recommendation could bring.
While test positivity rates have fallen below the 5 percent caution threshold in recent weeks, community transmission continues to be on the rise. That’s when someone gets sick without an obvious link to someone who is already ill.
Community transmission is currently responsible for 46 percent of new cases — the highest percentage of the pandemic.
“Our mitigation measures break down without adequate testing,” Huff said. “Even as we continue to successfully vaccinate a growing number of people in our state, we also continue to expand our mitigation testing programs for child care providers and educators.”
State officials say testing options will be expanded in schools and other settings to help more people get tested more easily. To date, Minnesota has screened more than 7.2 million samples from 3.4 million people for COVID-19.
The state reported 761 new coronavirus infections and nine more COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday.
Teachers, health workers and others who are routinely in contact with others are also encouraged to get tested routinely. That recommendation includes those who have already been vaccinated against COVID-19.
To find the nearest testing locations, go to mn.gov/covid19/get-tested or call 1-800-657-3504.