10M COVID Tests Monthly To U.S. Schools: What It Means In NJ

NEW JERSEY — The Biden administration said Wednesday it will provide 10 million free COVID-19 tests a month to U.S. schools to keep classes in person in New Jersey and elsewhere amid the omicron surge.

The tests — 5 million rapid tests and 5 million lab-based PCR tests — will be available to schools starting this month.

The increased federal support for testing is in addition to the more than $10 billion devoted to school-based testing and $130 billion in other efforts to keep kids in the classroom, both authorized in the COVID-19 relief law.

President Joe Biden has pushed schools to remain open, citing the academic and social-emotional costs of remote learning. But he has faced mounting criticism over testing shortages as America’s 50 million school children and educators returned to the classroom.

The White House said 96 percent of schools opened for in-person learning after the holiday break, compared with 46 percent in January 2021. Without adequate testing, critics have said, schools become superspreader settings.

Here’s what the new test initiative means in New Jersey:

• One goal of the initiative is to close gaps in areas where testing is uneven or nonexistent. States must submit requests to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the additional 5 million free rapid tests per month for high-need districts that can put the tests to immediate use. The first shipments will arrive later this month, according to the White House.

• The administration said it is immediately expanding lab capacity to support an additional 5 million lab-based PCR tests each month — which will be delivered through Department of Health and Human Services programs funded by coronavirus relief programs.

The initiative also targets federally backed testing sites to support school testing programs, including basing Federal Emergency Management Agency sites in schools. Also, the CDC is expected to release new “test-to-stay” guidance this week that allows the use of testing so close contacts of anyone who tested positive for the coronavirus can stay in classrooms.

Studies conducted in the United Kingdom, California and Illinois found COVID-19 transmission was similar for those using test-to-stay practices and traditional quarantining.
For the two studies conducted in the United States:

• Exposure had to have taken place at school;
• All participants had to be masked correctly and consistently throughout the study;
• Close contacts had to remain asymptomatic to attend school in-person;
• Close contacts had to adhere to CDC's quarantine guidance outside of the K-12 school setting; and
• All students had to physically distance when feasible.

New Jersey health officials are also considering how to implement the "test-to-stay" guidelines. This means 10 days of quarantining, including remote learning, or 7 days if a student tests negative for the coronavirus between 5 and 7 days after exposure. Students in all New Jersey schools are currently required to wear face coverings.

"We're working with the school nurses. We have developed a proposal for a pilot. We're looking at that for after the holiday break," New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said during a news conference in late December 2021.

New Jersey school districts including Long Valley and Hoboken are currently exploring "test-to-stay" options.

"Test-to-stay" practices are considered to be part of an overall strategy for combating the spread of COVID-19 in schools, which includes vaccinations. To find a vaccine location, click here.

For adults, free COVID-19 tests are also available throughout the state.