A plan to start testing student-athletes for COVID-19 will produce faster results and make it possible to continue scheduled home and away games while keeping kids safe, school officials said.
Athletes have to test twice a week, before and after games. Results from the tests that look for genetic material from the virus in a nasal swab take two to three days, known as PCR tests. The schools are going to use an antigen test, which looks for a protein from the virus and can yield results in 15 minutes.
Antigen tests for COVID-19 “are generally less sensitive” than the PCR tests, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, the antigen tests are useful, the CDC said, for screening and quickly identifying people who may be infectious with the virus.
An initial shipment of 40 antigen testing kits have been sent to Wrangell schools to be used for student-athletes, which is about 20 shy of what is need for the first twice-weekly testing of the 30 kids participating in cross country, swimming and volleyball. That doesn’t include the middle school teams or high school wrestling team, which started Wednesday.
“We had tried to order as much as we could when we first started,” said Trisa Rooney, activities director for the schools. “The company (providing the kits) said they could supply us with 150 tests but sent us 40. That’s not going to get us very far.”
Rooney said the next order is for 400 testing kits. Once that’s received, the schools will be able to determine how many are needed on a regular basis for the rest of the sports seasons.
The antigen testing kits were picked due to the lower cost and faster results.
Although the state gave Wrangell schools $49,000 for testing, Superintendent Bill Burr said the initial kits were supplied by the state at no cost. “So far, we haven’t spent any of that money yet.”
Burr said certification isn’t necessary to administer the tests as long as staff follows the testing guidelines and reports the results back to the state. Both Burr and Rooney have been trained in giving the tests. Rooney said they’ve considered training other staff on how to give the tests in case she or Burr aren’t available.
In the meantime, SEARHC will continue to offer testing at the Wrangell Medical Center if the schools can’t provide them.
Testing kits are in short supply across the country, Burr said. Even though nine (will update with numbers tomorrow) active cases have been diagnosed in Wrangell since last week with one at the school, staff is working to keep student-athletes safe, Rooney said, with twice-a-week testing and other protocols.
“We’re trying to stay away from the big tournaments, and maybe just holding scrimmages with other schools,” she said.
At a meeting this weekend, Rooney said athletic directors from Southeast schools will discuss the necessity of testing twice a week and whether just weekly testing is enough.
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