Montco Launches COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Testing Program In Schools

NORRISTOWN, PA — Montgomery County announced plans on Wednesday to launch a new program offering antigen coronavirus testing in schools, an important step in expanding its robust testing efforts.

The program offers weekly testing for staff and high-risk students, as well as in-school, rapid testing for individuals who become sick during the school day.

"By conducting tests on campus, school officials can use these tests as an additional screening tool in some cases to prevent the virus from coming on to campus," Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh said Wednesday. "And (to) provide another source of testing to which the school can quickly respond before they can spread the virus."

The tests are voluntary, and free. They'll be conducted through April, as the school districts look to weather the pandemic while vaccine distribution gets underway.

The program is already got underway on Monday at two of the county's school districts, North Penn and Lower Merion.

The antigen tests, provided by BinaxNow, involve a self-collected nasal swab. Test results are typically available within 15 minutes.

The exact rollout will look different depending on the school district. Individual school officials are working with the county health department to customize testing plans for their specific needs.

>>Montco COVID Cases, Positivity Rate Rise Again After Holidays

The program will be expanded to include private schools by the end of January. There are currently no plans to include child care facilities in this specific program, Arkoosh said.

Some schools around the county have begun to return to hybrid programs after the fall surge led to a mandatory two-week closure at the end of 2020. Increases in cases kept other districts fully remote after that.

Spread of coronavirus in schools was a contentious issue in the county last fall, with many school officials and parents groups objecting to the mandated closures, saying that there was little evidence that transmission happened in schools. The health department, at the time, noted concerns that many districts were facing "functional closures" due to a lack of available staff. In addition to teachers going into quarantine, local schools also faced bus driver and substitute teacher shortages.

While case numbers began to decrease across the county heading into the holidays, the early weeks of January have shown the percent positivity rate on tests and the overall number of cases creeping upward again. Arkoosh said Wednesday that the rise was attributable to holiday gatherings, and that the county "remain(s) in a very serious situation."

Officials have repeatedly pointed to testing as one of the most important tools in stopping increases in cases.