State leaders and health experts are weighing a counterintuitive school Covid strategy: less testing and contact tracing
said it would begin delivering millions of rapid tests to schools this month.
While falling case counts are starting to bring East Coast states relief from the testing strain, schools elsewhere are still struggling with the Omicron surge. Curtailing school testing, cutting back contact tracing or rationing resources are now in play to free up staff and concentrate on the actively sick.
The debate is unfolding as the White House encourages schools to layer testing programs atop proven protections: vaccinations, masks, social distancing and ventilation. “When the numbers started to come down from the holiday surge, that's when we instituted ‘Test to Stay,’ because we knew it would have far exceeded our capacity during that surge,” said Joseph Ricca, the superintendent of the White Plains Public Schools system just north of New York City. “In terms of the identified number of cases, it would've absolutely overwhelmed us.
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