Cairo-Durham News

The District is offering free point-of-care (diagnostic) testing for students who are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms at school. Parent/guardian consent is required for our nurses to administer this test. With your consent, a point-of-care test may be administered if:

  • a student develops COVID-19 symptoms at school
  • a symptomatic student receives a negative result on a home test kit and attends school while symptoms continue (in this case, the school nurse would conduct point-of-care testing to confirm or invalidate the negative home test result)

Please read the information below and complete this consent form (PDF) for each child in your household as soon as possible. If you need a paper consent form, please contact the main office of your child’s school. Signed consent forms should be returned to your child’s school or emailed/faxed to the appropriate Health Office.

If you already completed this form or if you do NOT consent to having your child(ren) tested for COVID-19 at school, please ignore this information. 

 

Q: What is point-of-care testing, and why would it happen at school? 

A: Point-of-care (POC) tests are used to diagnose current COVID-19 infections in symptomatic individuals. The school nurse will conduct POC testing only if your child becomes symptomatic at school or attends school with symptoms after receiving a negative result on a home test kit. POC tests are more sensitive than home tests and the results will allow the school nurses to confirm or rule out COVID-19 as the cause of your child’s symptoms. 

The school nurses have the ability to detect the virus in symptomatic students using ID NOW COVID-19 machines, which were provided to the District through a grant awarded to the Greene County Public Health Department.

 

Q: How is the test administered? 

A: Collecting a specimen for diagnostic testing involves placing a small swab, similar to a Q-Tip, into the front of the nose. Please visit https://youtu.be/AvFLbHbt1bs for a video demonstrating this process.

 

Q: What happens when the test results are received? 

A: Test results will be available to school staff within 15 minutes of specimen collection. You will be contacted only if your child is positive. If the test results are positive, your child will be sent home and the school will begin contact tracing protocols. Please follow the local health department's requirement for isolation and/or quarantine, which will be shared with you if needed.

If your child’s test results are negative, this means that the virus was not detected in your child’s specimen. If your child tests negative for COVID, but they are still presenting symptoms, the school will follow its existing school illness policy. Depending on your child’s specific symptoms, this may include being sent home and asking for a doctor’s alternate diagnosis.

If you have concerns about your child’s exposure to COVID-19, you should call the Greene County Public Health Department and your child’s doctor.