San Diego County is working with the University of California at San Diego on a pilot program that can provide a roadmap for schools to reopen safely while our community is vaccinated.
The safest early warning system in school, or “blatant,” as participants call it, is an evidence-based program to detect SARS-CoV-2 in schools and care centers. childhood. The project began with the technology launched as part of UC San Diego’s Return to Learn program, which collects daily samples of wastewater tested for coronavirus.
Over the past four months, Safer at School Early Alert has been piloted in 10 schools and two child care centers within the communities most at risk for COVID-19, including San Ysidro, Chula Vista, El Cajon, Southeastern. San Diego and Vista.
“We know that through the pandemic, the educational gap has widened, often in our communities most affected by the pandemic,” said Nathan Fletcher, chairman of the County Board of Supervisors. “In my conversations with UCSD researchers and my COVID-19 scientific advisory group, it became clear that there were lower-cost alternatives to regular testing that would allow some of the most affected students to return to school with “Through this pilot and funding through the appropriate CARES federal law by the Council, we have been able to test new testing options. I hope we can expand this program.”
By daily monitoring of wastewater and surface water, the Safer at School Early Alert tests for the presence of coronavirus particles and combines it with a sensitive testing strategy. The goal is to quickly identify children or staff members who are infected with COVID-19 before an outbreak occurs.
The three elements of the pilot use a robot in a sewer outlet to collect daily samples of wastewater that is tested at the UC San Diego School of Medicine, a daily drying of floors for virus particles that have been settled and a free PCR testing program. Child care sites also send used diapers to test for stool samples in children who are not yet pot-trained.
A second step includes daily surface monitoring. Teachers or staff use a swab to test a section of a square foot of the center of the floor in a classroom, which is where aerosols are usually set. These samples are tested daily at the UC San Diego laboratory.
The test of children and staff at each site is the third part of the screening program. Children and staff who voluntarily consent undergo free PCR COVID-19 testing at their school or child care center in response to a positive waste or surface water monitoring result.
“Safe reopening of schools remains a priority for San Diego County,” said Wilma J. Wooten, MD, MPH, county public health officer. “What UC San Diego has demonstrated with the Safer at School Early Alert pilot program models the types of steps that can help us return to classroom education as we continue to fight the virus.”