Annie Spratt/Unsplash
The province of Ontario has announced they are improving access to local targeted COVID-19 rapid antigen screening by making it available for students through participating public health units where risk of transmission is high.
By expanding access to rapid antigen screening, the Ontario government is "helping to keep schools and licensed child care settings open and safe for children and students."
The program will support access to voluntary, rapid asymptomatic screening for unvaccinated children and students. This will help identify and prevent transmission in schools and licensed child care settings, as identified by local medical officers of health based on local epidemiological circumstances.
So far, neither the province nor anyone from the Ministry of Education has said in what areas this new program will begin or be implemented.
A statement from the province says this school-based program is "in keeping with current provincial guidance for rapid antigen screening and based on advice from Public Health Ontario, the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, and Ontario’s Testing Strategy Expert Panel and is focused on screening of children in public health units with the highest risk of transmission."
Stephen Lecce, Ontario's Minister of Education, said Ontario’s plan is "focused on minimizing disruption and maximizing safe, in-class learning, supported by major improvements in mechanical ventilation and 70,000 HEPA and other ventilation devices in learning spaces."
While vaccines and existing classroom prevention strategies – such as masking, cohorting and daily symptom screening measures – remain key defences against COVID-19, screening and testing remain important tools in protecting against the spread of COVID-19. In addition, in September 2021, the Ministry of Education launched a targeted, PCR-based self-collection pilot for vaccinated high school students identified as high-risk close contacts of a confirmed case of COVID-19 to support testing participation and a timely return to school.
Limiting the spread of COVID-19 is critical to ensuring that schools and child care centres remain safe and open to support working families.
"Targeted asymptomatic screening has the potential to detect cases in schools earlier and reduce the risk of outbreaks and closures, particularly in communities across the province that have a high prevalence of active COVID-19 cases," said Dr. Kieran Moore, Chief Medical Officer of Health.
"Expanding access to rapid antigen screening may be another way to help keep schools safer and students in the classroom. I continue to encourage everyone who has yet to get their first or second dose of the COVID-19 vaccination to do so as soon as you can to increase our level of community immunity and protect our students and young Ontarians who are not yet eligible to receive the vaccine."
COVID-19 rapid antigen screening for child care and school age children will proceed as follows:
- Based on the guidance of the Chief Medical Officer of Health, local Medical Officers of Health will continue to monitor local COVID-19 transmission and vaccination rates to identify when to implement rapid antigen screening in parts of their region based on local factors and needs.
- Rapid antigen screening will be used only for unvaccinated asymptomatic students and children who are not high-risk contacts. Symptomatic or high-risk contacts should continue to access lab-based PCR testing available at assessment centres and other collection centres.
- Where the local public health unit has identified schools or child care centres that would benefit from this screening, rapid antigen screening tests will be made available. Parents will be able to choose if their unvaccinated asymptomatic children will participate in this screening offered by their schools or licensed child care settings.
- Unvaccinated children participating in the program will be able to conduct the rapid antigen screening at home with instructions.
- Children who receive a positive result will be required to seek a confirmatory lab-based PCR test at a local assessment centre or specimen collection centre and isolate until the result of that lab-based PCR test is known. Children who receive a negative result on a rapid antigen screening test will be able to continue in-person learning. More detailed information including duration and frequency will follow.
The Ministry of Education will continue to work with the Chief Medical Officer of Health and local public health units to assess key indicators, such as vaccination rates and community transmission, to inform and update provincial guidance for schools and child care as needed.
More information is available directly from the province of Ontario online here.
