SNOHOMISH — Students, teachers, and staff in Snohomish School District schools are participating in a COVID-19 testing project with researchers at the University of Washington (UW) to gain new insights into the transmission of the virus in schools and classrooms.
The project will involve students in grades kindergarten through second grade. The study is also available to staff working with in-person students in special education, as well as those in kindergarten through sixth grade. Staff who have been vaccinated are encouraged to participate as the study may help researchers better understand transmission of the virus. Student and staff enrollment in the study is voluntary and began this week.
For students who enroll, nasal swab kits will be provided on campus. Parents or guardians will collect their children’s samples at home and place the sample in a drop box located at the school. The samples are then collected and sent by members of the research team to a UW laboratory. Like students, teachers and staff will collect their testing samples at school or at home and drop them off in the secure drop boxes on campuses. Participants will be able to access their results within two to three days of sample collection in a secure online portal.
“We are thrilled to be a part of this testing partnership with the University of Washington,” said Kent Kultgen, Superintendent of the Snohomish School District.
The study will be conducted between February and June, through regular symptom monitoring and weekly volunteer testing of children and school staff.
In addition, the rapid personal testing model will enable the school district’s health partners to quickly contact trace those who have had contact with those who test positive, and to avoid seeing those contacts themselves spread COVID-19 to others.
The UW’s Dr. Helen Chu said the goal is to gain knowledge about how the virus may be transmitted in schools, especially by asymptomatic children.
“I am confident that with the design of this study and the participants, we will learn a great deal about the transmission of the virus,” Chu said. “This information will be invaluable to policy makers and administrators of health and education systems on the state and local levels, as they make decisions on when and how students may return to in-classroom instruction.”
The study is being conducted by the Seattle Flu Study group, which includes faculty and staff from the Brotman Baty Institute; UW Medicine and the Department of Genome Sciences; Seattle Children’s Hospital; and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
– This material originated from a Snohomish School District announcement
