MDH Recommends Students Returning to the Classroom to Get Tested for COVID-19

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(KNSI) – The Minnesota Department of Health has redefined its guidance for who should be tested for COVID-19.

In addition to people with COVID-19 symptoms and people with known exposure to COVID-19, the department says youth returning to in-person education, from preschool to college, should get tested. There is extra emphasis on testing youth between the ages of 12 and 25.

“The reason we have focused on 12 to 25, this is when children begin to get a little bit more active on their own,” MDH assistant commissioner Dan Huff said. “They’re more social and interacting with more folks outside of their household pod.”

Huff cited that middle school and high school-age students are often involved in sports and other extracurricular activities that put them in more contact with people outside of their classroom or home.

“We’ve worked tremendously hard and Minnesotans have made a lot of sacrifices to get students back to their classrooms, sports, and extracurricular activities,” Huff said. “Active testing by children, college and trade school students, and those who regularly engage with folks outside of their household — like our teachers — will protect our progress and mitigate the spread of the virus.”

The guidance adds upon the state’s current recommendations for people who have COVID-19 symptoms, have been knowingly exposed to COVID-19 or work in an environment where they are more at risk for catching it should get tested for COVID-19 as needed.

The new guidance for students comes in conjunction with a biweekly COVID-19 testing effort for staff at Minnesota’s schools. According to MDH, districts must offer the testing opportunity, but staff are not required to be tested. Huff said this effort began three weeks ago and more than 17,000 staff have been tested. He said the test positivity rate from those tests is 0.36 percent — well below the state’s latest seven-day average test positivity of 5.1 percent.

Since the testing program began, more than 17,000 staff have been tested, with a 0.36% positivity.

Both the St. Cloud Area School District and Sauk Rapids-Rice School District have students in the classroom full-time or on a hybrid schedule. Competitions for high school athletics resumed January 14th.