Weekly saliva testing resumed on October 6, 2021 in elementary schools as a test-run to work through the logistical challenges encountered by the State’s testing vendor CIC and Veritas, the first week of testing.
Here’s what you need to know
Students and Staff MUST consent via the State vendor CIC to be eligible for Test and Stay.
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You MUST consent to Test and Stay AND weekly routine testing, the State does not allow partial participation.
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If your student does not participate in testing, they will be quarantined for a minimum of 7 days in the event they are identified as a close contact or experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.
Families & Staff Action Needed: To view and complete the state provided COVID-19 testing consent form for yourself or on behalf of your child, please click here (and then click “consent now” to sign).
Routine COVID-19 safety check testing will be provided by Veritas/CIC Wednesdays.
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Test kits will be provided to students via the classroom teacher.
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The School Nurse is managing the distribution and collection of tests in your school.
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A saliva sample is collected at home on Tuesday afternoon/evening OR Wednesday morning at least 30min before eating or drinking.
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Parents MUST register their students’ sample each week using the QR code or typing covid.vg in their browser.
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You can register using the QR code on the tube, some phone cameras have had issues with this.
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The MA Board of Health requires 2 identifiers on the sample tube, name and date of birth. Name labels have been provided this round – DO NOT COVER THE BARCODE. Please note that families with different surnames must enter the students name as per the consent form.
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Results are only accessed by the Director of Health, Karen Rufo, who will contact you if your student is in a positive pool.
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Otherwise – no news is good news!
A successful sample is registered – labelled – filled to the fill line – dropped off at school on Wednesday morning!
FAQs
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I consented my student but didn’t receive any kits home?
CIC are having some discrepancies on their system and are working to resolve the issue. You will be able to collect kits from your school nurse in the event that they are not sent home.
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We didn’t have to register the sample the first week, what changed?
Due to the scanning issues experienced by the nursing staff the first week, CIC changed the process so that individuals register their samples. This speeds up the scanning of each sample in the nurse’s office, before they are shipped to the lab.
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We forgot to send back a sample this week, can we still participate?
Don’t worry, it happens! Yes you can continue to participate the following week.
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What happens if there isn’t a name label in our kit?
Write the participants full name and date of birth on the tube.
