Schools across the country will soon have access to free COVID-19 tests thanks to a division within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This nationwide initiative is a collaborative effort aiming to curb the spread of COVID-19 among students, staff, and community members.
The program's collaboration and execution details have been outlined in a recent press release. According to a U.S. Department of Education (EDU) press release, they are being joined by the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), to distribute free COVID-19 tests to schools across the U.S. Moreover, the EDU is encouraging school districts to order the tests from the federal government and make them readily available to members of the community, along with students.
An official statement from EDU highlights their commitment towards public health and safety. "The Biden-Harris Administration remains a committed partner with schools in keeping our students and teachers safe and healthy," said EDU’s Assistant Secretary for Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development Roberto Rodriguez. "These self-tests are easy to use and can play an important role in preventing the spread of COVID-19. We encourage schools to make use of these free resources to safeguard students, parents, and staff throughout the 2023-24 school year."
The inclusive nature of this initiative extends its reach beyond traditional educational establishments. Charter and traditional schools will have access to the free tests with school districts having the ability to distribute them for free to parents, students, staff and the community at large, according to the EDU media release. The measure is expected to keep schools stocked with the tests and give them the ability to provide them to member of the community who desire them.
A representative from HHS underscores the significance of this partnership and its overarching goal. "Keeping students and teachers safe has been a priority of the Biden-Harris Administration since day one. Making free COVID-19 tests available to schools this year ensures that students and staff can test throughout the winter months," said HHS’s Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell. "The partnership announced today leverages ASPR’s ongoing test distribution programs to reach school communities through ED’s close relationship to school districts – helping keep communities healthy."
The potential scale and impact of this initiative is further emphasized in EDU's media release. According to the EDU media release, the initiative is expected to raise COVID-19 testing access across the U.S. Roughly 1.6 billion COVID-19 tests have already been handed out to schools, households, medical facilities and food banks. Over four million tests are sent out each week and that figure is expected to increase when school districts ask for the test.
