Voluntary Asymptomatic COVID-19 Student Pooled Testing

Posted: 4/5/2021 3:58 pm

If you have not already done so, please sign up for the asymptomatic COVID-19 weekly pooled testing program for the Public Schools of Brookline (PSB)!

Testing is free and currently open to BEEP-12th grade students attending school in person and student-facing staff. You only have to sign up once for each participant, and then you’re done. Of note, part of the signup requires LASID# for each participating student, which is found in the Aspen portal (link below). It only takes a few seconds to log on to find this info!

Link to sign up for testing: https://forms.gle/ZupK8z5odD5gMov5A

Link to find LASID on Aspen portal: https://ma-brookline.myfollett.com/aspen/logon.do

We’re off to a great start—we have administered over 3700 tests since the start of the PSB Pooled Testing Program. Last week (March 22-March 26) was the first week that testing was open to *all* eligible students and staff, and we had a 25% participation rate for all students and staff combined. We want to increase our participation rate—and with your help, we can! Please take five minutes to sign up, and spread the word!

High participation in the pooled testing program helps PSB to detect people who are infected with SARS-CoV-2 but have no symptoms. Those people can be quickly removed from the school environment, and this action also reduces the number of people identified as close contacts. This program uses front-of-the-nose swabs that are collected at school, pooled together in groups of 5-10 swabs, and tested as a group at the Broad laboratory in Cambridge. The sensitivity of this pooled testing is very similar to individually testing each person. Please note that individuals in a positive pool would need to return for a second (“reflex”) test to determine which person in the pool is the infected individual. For more information or questions, please contact Nurse Debra Troderman at debra_troderman@psbma.org.

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