A new Covid-19 at-home student screening program is now available for NWT residents.
Parents will have the option to volunteer to have their children ages five to 11 included in the program.
Every week, a random sampling of 10 per cent of classroom students will be selected for asymptomatic testing.
This will be done via the At Home Abbott Panbio Rapid Response test. Parents or students will conduct the test themselves with a swab in the lower region of the nose.
Results will be reported through either an online platform or paper, depending on preference. Only the program administrator at the child’s school will have access to identifiable test results.
Identifying information will then be removed from the data and forwarded along to the Department of Health, which has introduced the testing in conjunction with the Department of Education. Any positive test results will require confirmation at a health centre or Covid screening site, and students will be required to isolate while they await confirmation.
This program is being offered in settings where there is the “highest risk for large-scale community spread – in the territory’s largest elementary schools along with any smaller school in proximity to large outbreak centres.”
Twelve schools are included in the program: in Yellowknife, Hay River, Behchokǫ̀, Inuvik, Ndilǫ and Dettah.
The program will continue until a vaccine is widely available to this young student population and uptake is high enough.
“This screening (pilot) program will allow Public Health to detect asymptomatic cases of Covid-19 among students and respond quickly to isolate cases and reduce the risk of spread within the schools,” stated Health Minister Julie Green. “If participation is high enough, we are hopeful that this program will help to ensure the continuation of in-person learning.”
According to the GNWT, this approach is being used widely in both school and workplace settings across Canada and is considered a key tool in controlling the spread of the virus and enabling in-person learning and work to continue.
“This home monitoring program is an important part of the safe return to school plans,” said Dr. Kami Kanolda, the NWT’s chief public health officer. “This non-invasive test, performed at home, will help keep our children safe from a potential outbreak while ensuring in-class learning is maximized. I encourage parents and guardians to enrol in the home test monitoring program and reach out to cpho@gov.nt.ca with any questions, concerns or feedback about our plans moving forward.”