Pool-Based Saliva Testing Program Coming to K–12

A company that does develops COVID-19 testing management programs for colleges and universities is bringing its services to K-12 schools. CoVerified is working with Mirimus Clinical Labs, which performs saliva pool testing, to launch CoVerifiedPool, a mechanism for testing student populations regularly and affordably.

Under this approach, 24 individual saliva samples are pooled for testing in the lab rather than at a collection site, and samples are processed as a single test. According to the companies, the technique does away with the "invasive" nasal swab testing and may work better for "young student populations." With the SalivaClear approach, the saliva is collected at home, which decreases the need for on-site staffing to perform the testing.

The process has been implemented at the Wellesley Public Schools District in Massachusetts, where students and staff in middle and high schools undergo weekly testing. The model, according to participants, has enabled the district to reopen.

Pool-Based Saliva Testing Program Coming to K–12

A district web page dedicated to the subject explained that student kits will be distributed in middle school home rooms; at the high school level, students pick up their kits in the cafeteria. The individual kits are registered online and the saliva is collected at home on Monday or Tuesday mornings and samples dropped off that same day in dedicated receptacles, keeping staff and students from the same building in the same pool. Those are shipped off to Mirimus' location in Brooklyn, NY and results are made available within 24 to 48 hours. When the pool includes a positive sample, it's automatically retested, but in "pairs." If one of the pairs shows a positive result, the two participants in that pair are asked to do another saliva sample, and those individual results are returned within a couple of hours.

While the district mandates testing for its 1,300 staff, it doesn't do that for students as a requirement for returning to campus. However, it does "highly encourage" participation as a way to keep the schools safe. Anonymous testing results are made publicly available through an online dashboard.

Along with testing, the district also has put other safety practices in place: mask wearing, hand washing and physical distancing.

Much of the cost for Wellesley's testing program was covered by a combination of grants, donations and CARES Act relief funding.

"Saliva-based pool testing is a critically important approach for minimizing risk as we get students back into the classroom," said Brandon Busuito, a medical doctor and co-founder and CEO of CoVerified, in a statement. "A holistic software and testing approach tailored to unique needs of students and educators is crucial to achieving success in schools. Even as the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines continues, robust surveillance testing is key to ensuring a safe learning environment."

CoVerifiedPool is expected to be fully available starting on Jan. 31, 2021.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Springfield Breaks Ground on $53.7M Pipkin Middle School Rebuild

    Construction is underway on a new, state-of-the-art Pipkin Middle School in Springfield, Mo., a major step in Springfield Public Schools’ (SPS) long-term facility improvement plan, according to local news. The $53.7-million project officially broke ground in early June, following years of planning and community input aimed at modernizing aging infrastructure and addressing student capacity concerns.

  • ProTeam Launches GoFit 6 HEPA Backpack Vacuum

    Technology leader Emerson recently introduced the new ProTeam GoFit 6 HEPA backpack vacuum, according to a news release. The vacuum was designed to capture 99.97% of particulates down to 0.3 microns—including atmospheric hazards like lead dust, mold spores, and other particulates—through an advanced filtration system.

  • California High School Starts Construction on New CTE Building

    Analy High School, part of the West Sonoma County Union High School District (WSCUHSD) in Sebastopol, Calif., recently broke ground on a new Career Technical Education (CTE) Building, according to a news release. The 15,000-square-foot facility will offer specialized facilities for students in engineering, welding, culinary arts, agricultural sciences, and design thinking.

  • modern college building with circuit and brain motifs

    Anthropic Introduces Claude for Education

    Anthropic has launched a version of its Claude AI assistant tailored for higher education institutions. Claude for Education "gives academic institutions secure, reliable AI access for their entire community," the company said, to enable colleges and universities to develop and implement AI-enabled approaches across teaching, learning, and administration.

Digital Edition