More districts begin in-school tests

Watervliet joins Bethlehem in announcing plans to launch program next week

Watervliet City Schools will begin virus testing at least 10 percent of onsite students and staff next week, school officials have announced.

The testing will be administered by school nurses on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on a rotating basis starting with the junior and senior high school on Wednesday, Jan. 20, and at Watervliet Elementary School on Friday, Jan. 22.

Watervliet is among the first local public school districts to proactively move forward with screening asymp- tomatic students and staff.

While the state has dropped its test- ing mandates for red, orange, and yel

low “microcluster” zones, the Albany County Department of Health has rec

ommended surveillance as an important tool in addressing COVID -19 in the school community.

“On-site COVID testing is a precautionary strategy that could help keep our schools open for in-person teaching and learning,” Watervliet school officials wrote in a memo to families. “Testing is helpful for identifying cases that might otherwise go undetected. Although the state has not designated Albany County a red, orange or yellow zone, given the increasing infection rates in the Capital Region, we have decided to initiate testing as an added measure to protect the health and safety of our students and staff, and do our part to help limit the spread of the virus in our community.”

The district is using non-invasive nasal swabs to produce results in 15 minutes that have been provided by the state Department of Health.

The tests are voluntary; only students, teachers and staff who have signed consent forms will be selected for screenings.

Bethlehem school officials announced Thursday that the district also will begin testing 10 to 20 percent of on-site students and employees next week.

Albany City Schools started randomly testing 10 percent of its on-site population on Monday. The district has had several COVID -19 cases this week, but so far no positive results have turned up among the more than 100 tests performed on asymptomatic students and staff.

Districts say they have enough rapid test kits for one round of screenings and they will order more supplies from the state Health Department if the results warrant further screenings.

The private Albany Academies tested 100 percent of its on-campus population before resuming in-person classes this week and plan to continue the surveillance testing on a weekly basis. The schools used a Marylandbased lab to conduct pool testing.

More than 600 tests turned up just three positives.

Will Waldron / Times Union Watervliet city schools will begin testing 10 percent of on-site students and staff next week, the most recent district to move forward with the screening plan.

Courtesy Albany City Schools Albany City Schools on Jan. 11 began proactively testing in-person students and employees on a voluntary basis as a precautionary measure due to the surge in COVID-19 cases since the holiday break.