TORONTO – Covid-19 and school. The bond, this year, seems to be stronger than in 2020. It is the numbers that give us the picture of the situation: last year at the end of October, 1,966 cases were detected in public schools since the beginning of the school year. This year the infections in the same period of time are as many as 4,454. The fault, say the doctors, is to be attributed to the variant of the Delta coronavirus that some scientists have discovered to be contagious like chickenpox. 

The infections due to the virus today were 80 (75 students, 4 teachers and a non-teaching staff member) while the schools in the province that reported at least one case are 500: two remain closed. 37% of active cases throughout the province are related to schools and kindergartens.

Being able to keep the spread of infections under control is very important. today, Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced that starting November 15, the province will provide all publicly funded schools with a supply of test kits to take home.

The government says the tests can be used by students and staff showing symptoms of Covid-19 or by anyone in the school system who is considered a high-risk contact of a confirmed case.

Underliing this decision, a government official assured, is a desire to simplify testing so parents can do them at home instead of having to go to a clinic.

The kits will consist of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, which require processing in a provincial laboratory and the results are typically available from 24 to 48 hours.

The do-it-yourself PCR testing program — which affects 3,700 schools — joins the recently established programs in Toronto and Ottawa, led by hospitals. From November 15, it will be enough for the parents of a symptomatic child to withdraw the test from school, take it home and finally deliver it to a center that will analyze it.

PCR tests are more accurate in detecting the virus that causes Covid than rapid tests that provide a result in minutes.

Calling it a “test-to-stay” approach, the government says this initiative will reduce the need to close schools where an outbreak has occurred for a period of two weeks.

Lecce also announced that it will require unvaccinated school staff to undergo rapid antigen testing three times a week, an increase over the current twice-weekly testing regimen. And this is a clear signal that the government has no intention of imposing mandatory vaccination on teachers and school staff.