Guelph’s public health unit will participate in COVID-19 rapid test program in schools – Guelph

Guelph’s public well being unit says it’ll take part within the province’s new focused COVID-19 speedy check program in colleges and licensed child-care settings.

The Ontario authorities introduced on Tuesday morning that exams for unvaccinated college students with no signs might be made obtainable to places the place transmission is excessive.

Inside hours of that announcement, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Well being introduced its intention to take part and that planning domestically is already underway.

“I’m happy to see the province add this layer of safety,” mentioned medical officer of well being Dr. Nicola Mercer.

“This program provides one other native instrument to struggle this pandemic in Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph. Domestically, we are going to use the most effective obtainable well being knowledge to make sure these exams are used as successfully as doable to guard kids who’re most in danger from COVID-19.”

Public well being added that whereas this system remains to be in improvement, officers are already attempting to determine which colleges and child-care centres are essentially the most acceptable for speedy testing.

Speedy check kits might be offered to colleges and child-care settings via college boards, college administration or facility administration and fogeys may have the choice to decide on whether or not their unvaccinated asymptomatic baby participates in this system.

“COVID-19 can critically affect a toddler’s well being and their social and college lives,” mentioned Mercer.

“Testing offers us one other solution to defend particular person kids and people they dwell with, be taught with and play with.”

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Ontario’s high physician particulars elements that go into deploying COVID-19 speedy testing program

The announcement from the province comes after teams of fogeys had organized surveillance testing for his or her colleges utilizing the speedy check kits, however the authorities instructed businesses to cease distributing them to anybody however companies.

Ontario’s chief medical officer of well being Dr. Kieran Moore has mentioned widespread asymptomatic surveillance testing in colleges isn’t really useful as a result of it isn’t an efficient instrument.

“Whenever you apply these exams in a low-risk setting you’ll discover that you just get extra false positives than true positives and also you’ll ship folks for PCR testing consequently they usually’ll be off college as a result of they’ve to attend for the outcome,” he mentioned.

As of Tuesday, authorities figures confirmed 796 out of 4,844 colleges within the province had a minimum of one COVID-19 case. Six colleges are closed on account of constructive circumstances.

The Higher Grand and Wellington Catholic district college boards are reporting seven circumstances amongst six colleges in Guelph and Wellington County.

The federal government has declined so as to add COVID-19 vaccinations to the listing of necessary immunizations for youngsters to attend college, corresponding to measles and chickenpox.

—with information from The Canadian Press and World Information’ Jessica Patton

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