Coronavirus Positivity Rates In MA Schools Less Than 1%

BOSTON — Coronavirus transmission remains low in Massachusetts schools, with less than 1 percent of pooled testing coming back positive, Gov. Charlie Baker's administration announced Monday. The statewide testing program, available to students and staff at no costs, was also extended through the rest of the school year.

Pooled testing involves mixing people's test samples together and testing the pooled sample for COVID-19. If the pool comes back positive, its members are individually tested. This increases the number of people that can be tested at once and allows the district to regularly test for COVID-19,according to state officials. Pooled testing is done in participating schools at least once per week.

The program launched in February, and according to Baker, just 0.76 percent of the 22,679 pools tested positive for the coronavirus. Baker said there were 159,000 students and school staff in the pools, so the individual positivity rate is even lower, especially since most of those pools consisted of around seven students.

"Massachusetts' robust and ambitious program offering COVID-19 surveillance testing to all schools, charters and special education collaboratives led the nation," Baker said in a statement. "The science is clear that it is safe for kids to be in the classrooms, and this initiative has proved to serve as an invaluable tool for schools throughout the Commonwealth as they return to in-person learning."

Initial funding for pooled testing was set to expire April 18, but the state officials announced it will cover the costs of tests for the rest of the school year. Officials said this was made possible by additional federal funds for COVID-19 testing, which gave the state another $207 million to launch pooled testing at schools yet to be participating. The Baker administration also announced the state will cover the costs of COVID-19 testing at sites dedicated to testing early education providers.