MI To Offer Weekly COVID-19 Testing To Teachers

LANSING, MI — Michigan will offer weekly COVID-19 tests to teachers in both private and public schools with the hope of achieving Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's goal of all schools offering in-person instruction by March 1, state health officials announced Tuesday.

The Michigan Safe Schools Testing Program will provide supplies for COVID-19 rapid antigen tests to schools at no cost to districts, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. About 300 schools and 9,000 staff members have signed up for testing so far, officials said.

“Voluntary testing of educators is part of the larger state strategy of keeping students, staff and communities safe while giving children the in-person instruction that they need to learn, develop and grow,” state health Director Elizabeth Hertel said in a statement Tuesday. “Our dedicated teachers are among the frontline workers who have stepped up during this pandemic. Giving them an opportunity to be regularly tested recognizes their sacrifices and keeps everyone safer.”

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The testing program is modeled after Michigan’s pilot project that tested student athletes and coaches who were participating in playoffs for high school fall sports such as football, health officials said. In that program, more than 8,300 people were tested, and it resulted in the detection of 69 asymptomatic COVID-19 cases that otherwise would have been missed, according to data provided by the health department.

Michigan has confirmed 562,510 cases of the coronavirus and 14,672 reported COVID-19 deaths, according to the most recent state data. Michigan announced Saturday that the number of people in the state who have recovered from the coronavirus has reached 481,000.

Related: Whitmer Wants Michigan K-12 Schools Open By March 1

Whitmer on Jan. 8 announced a goal of having an in-person instruction option in all school districts by March 1.

Hertel and Joneigh Khaldun, Michigan's chief medical executive and chief deputy director for health, signed orders authorizing testing in non-health-care settings such as schools.

“Testing is the way we are going to be able to identify cases of COVID-19 and reduce the spread of this virus," Khaldun said Tuesday. "Signing this order today helps make sure we are eliminating as many barriers to testing as possible. We encourage everyone who has symptoms of COVID-19, or who has been exposed, to be tested. Everyone has a role to play in ending this pandemic.”

MDHHS paused in-person learning in high schools in November as part of an order to limit indoor gatherings. After case numbers decreased, high schools were permitted to resume in-person classes effective Dec. 21.