Table 6.

Summary of Testing Considerations for K-12 School Settings

Primary Goals of Testing:

• Detect COVID-19 cases.

• Detect asymptomatic cases to allow isolation and contact tracing and to provide data on the effectiveness of infection prevention measures.

• Support in-person learning.

Pretest Probability: low

Testing Strategy:

Develop screening strategy to be implemented if risk of in-school transmission becomes moderate-high. Prioritize testing staff over students and prioritize older students over younger students.

Testing may be performed every 3 days using Ag RDTs (if supply allows), given their lower sensitivity, or less frequently if traditional NAAT is used.

In high-volume setting such as K-12 settings, consideration to pooled testing may be of value.

Positive result: Rapid isolation of case and contact tracing. Institute heightened infection prevention activities if evidence of in-school transmission.

Negative result: Continue routine infection prevention activities.

Abbreviations: Ag, antigen; COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019; NAAT, nucleic acid amplification test; RDT, rapid diagnostic test.