Governor Baker made an announcement today about how the state will make Covid-19 testing available to school districts. Here’s the story from Commonwealth Magazine. Excerpts:
Seeking to reassure schools reopening this fall with in-person learning, Gov. Charlie Baker said he is launching a statewide mobile testing program that can be deployed if a handful of staff or students come down with COVID-19.
“This program will be designed to quickly deliver testing resources for students and school personnel if there are multiple cases in a cohort that require larger-scale testing than a community may have access to currently,” Baker said.
Marylou Sudders, the secretary of health and human services, said the mobile testing program would be deployed to K-12 schools at the request of the local board of health if there are two to three non-related individuals who contract COVID-19 in a class, a grade, on the staff, or on a bus over a 14-day period.
“We see this as a response to school concerns about cluster development,” Sudders said.
She and the governor said additional guidance on the program would be made available over the coming weeks.
… On Monday, Baker told reporters that 70 percent of Massachusetts districts have indicated they are planning a hybrid or in-person return this fall.
