by: taylor blewett
ontario is rolling out a rapid antigen screening program for unvaccinated kids in schools and child care settings, when the local medical officer of health decides it’s warranted and parents want to have their child participate.
it’s been a month since the return to school and they remain safe places to learn, chief medical officer of health dr. kieran moore said tuesday.
this targeted screening program is intended to help keep them that way, and prevent school closures, moore explained, alongside measures like masking, cohorting and daily symptom checks that he described as the best defence against covid-19.
“where the risk of transmission is very high, and vaccine coverage is low at the community or school level, this measure may provide an additional layer of protection for schools and child care centres to minimize risk of outbreaks and potential closures.”
the program follows current provincial guidance for rapid antigen screening, moore said tuesday, and is based on advice from public health ontario, the province’s science advisory table and a testing strategy expert panel.
the program will work like this, moore explained: local medical officers of health will monitor transmission and vaccination rates in their respective areas to identify when to implement the screening “based on local factors and needs.”