Back to School COVID Testing for Kids

June 23, 2021

 Finally summer! Kids and parents may finally get a break from a most unusual school year.  Looking ahead as the new school year approaches, we take a look at back-to-school COVID-19 testing, and why it is important.

At the beginning of the pandemic, experts told us that kids were at lower risk of catching COVID-19. But, the reality is that kids are at risk of catching COVID-19. The difference is that kids usually do not show serious symptoms, so it is hard to tell whether your child has just another run-of-the-mill cold, or something else. Many kids do not have any symptoms at all.

Right now there is no vaccine for children under the age of 12. The only way to find out if kids get COVID-19 is to test them. If they do have COVID-19, there are health care services available to take care of them, help them stay healthy, and protect family members and communities from spreading it.

The fact is that children can transmit COVID-19 when they show no illness at all. Testing kids helps to ensure a safe return to in person learning. Testing kids helps to protect the kids themselves while also protecting other kids, teachers, families and the greater community.

Although many people are already vaccinated – teachers, school staff and some students – it is still possible to “catch” the COVID-19.  Vaccinations do help prevent catching the infection most of the time, but their most important role is to prevent serious illness and hospitalization.

As most parents will agree, getting kids back to in-person learning is really important! Testing kids at schools is part of a larger plan to keep our kids, teachers and communities safe. Many people are very familiar with mask-wearing, hand washing and physical distancing to stop the spread of infection. Although some kids have returned to in person learning, we expect enrollment to be back up to full capacity in the fall. Physical distancing will be harder to enforce when all students fully return to the classroom.

Remote learning took its toll on everyone – parents that had to leave their jobs to provide in-home schooling, students not being able to socialize and see their friends, teachers who struggled with trying to keep remote students interested in the material.

Prolonged remote or virtual learning can have negative effects on progress. Allowing kids to return to in person school can help with social, emotional and mental health aspects that are negatively affected with remote learning. Back-to-school testing is important for keeping everyone safe, happy, and healthy!