PLEASANTON, CA / ACCESSWIRE / December 13, 2021 / COVID-19 has taken a toll on the development of students worldwide. To address the learning disruption, emotional stress, and shortages caused by the pandemic, Campbell Union School District ("CUSD") collaborates with Grapefruit Testing ("Grapefruit") to implement a Test to Stay COVID-19 testing protocol.
Test to Stay is designed to use high-frequency, low-barrier testing in a targeted group of individuals to mitigate the harmful effects of quarantine while simultaneously keeping everyone safe from the spread of the virus. Grapefruit, one of the leading institutions across the country that has been on the frontline amid the pandemic with innovative solutions to counter the health threat, is committed to creating a positive impact in the lives of students.
Students are among the most at-risk individuals during the pandemic. Grapefruit aims to conduct frequent and rapid testing among various groups of students through Test to Stay to counter and trace who has been infected and who is most vulnerable. The program quickly identifies infected individuals and possible transmissions, which allows children to safely return without fear of getting exposed to COVID-19.
"Our epidemiologists found students at CUSD were 60.3% less likely to be infected with COVID-19 because the routine screening was performed, and 8,088 days of in-person instruction were saved with Test to Stay programs," explained Dr. Rick Pescatore, Chief Medical Officer of Grapefruit.
Over the span of two months, Test to Stay has helped the CUSD community save over $50,000 in healthcare costs, reinforcing the idea that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Pescatore further explained how Test to Stay prevented students from missing school due to quarantine, preventing them from missing out on days of learning as well as sparing their families from isolation, allowing them to perform daily activities generally without threat.
"While contact tracing and quarantine are critical and effective public health tools, they're a broad sword. By using frequent testing to quickly identify anyone who may be infected with COVID-19, we can more narrowly target our interventions, which prevents the harmful effects of isolation and quarantine, but does so safely and in an evidence-based manner," Pescatore said.
In addition, excessive quarantines not only cause students to miss days of learning but also hinder them from other benefits and privileges from the state, including a healthy lunch. Students forced into quarantine due to inaccurate testing lose access to meals, peer socialization, and other essential benefits they receive at school.
Test to Stay has made the testing process simpler for schools, teachers, and parents. The program has successfully been integrated into lifestyles without disrupting daily routines, hence improving the overall health safety in schools in the Campbell Union School District.
"As a parent myself, I can say that not only do I welcome the early detection of COVID-19 surrounding my child, but I know that screening, testing, and Test to Stay help keep schools open and keep kids in those schools-maintaining safety while preventing the impacts of school closures and virtual homeschooling," Pescatore explained.
While CUSD may have been one of the first, they aren't the only district in the country to implement this program. All across the U.S. many school districts are switching to this form of testing to save lives and prevent daily disruption. Districts from California to Massachusetts are offering test-to-stay or similar programs.
"Grapefruit provides a true turnkey and tailored solution to not only mitigate COVID-19 but also the burden it brings upon daily life," Pescatore says.
Learn more about Grapefruit on their website.
Company: Grapefruit Testing
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 213.900.6878
Website: https://www.grapefruithealth.net/
SOURCE: Grapefruit Testing