and, if some kids test themselves at home, it frees up health-care staff.
testing for covid-19 will be key to the safe and continuous operation of schools this fall.
the take-home testing could be used in a variety of ways, farion said.
for example, tests could be employed in pockets of ottawa where families face barriers to going to assessment centres for testing or where covid-19 rates are higher, or at schools that have had outbreaks.
children who develop symptoms at school could be given take-home test kits when their parents pick them up, which could be done at school or later at home. kits could be given to asymptomatic children who are identified as close contacts to make it easier for them to get tested as recommended.
next week, test kits will be distributed to 17 day camps in neighbourhoods where there are higher rates of covid-19 and families may find it difficult to get to testing centres.
campers and staff will have the option of doing the test at camp if they develop symptoms during the day, farion said.
more camps will be added in subsequent weeks.
“overall, our objectives are to help identify cases of covid-19 before transmission to others occurs and to help get kids back to camp with the least amount of time away waiting for testing.”