October 13, 2020
On Monday, Harrison County reported 2 new cases; Gregg had 18 and Smith had 42.
MISD to provide COVID-19 testing program for students, staff
MARSHALL – Marshall ISD now has the capability to provide free COVID-19 testing to the district’s students and staff as part of the Virtual Care for Families program.
Trained personnel, including nursing staff and athletic trainers, will administer the rapid tests, which are for district students and district employees only. Tests will be administered only to students and staff who are exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19, and those who are deemed to be in close contact with anyone who has tested positive for the virus.
“We are excited to be able to provide this access to testing for our students and employees,” said Dr. Jerry Gibson, MISD Superintendent. “This allows us to immediately provide testing within our school district and will greatly enhance our ability to detect COVID-19 in our schools and prevent spread of the virus.”
There will be no out-of-pocket costs for any tests that are administered under the program, which is provided through the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and the CARES Act. The VCF is delivering the same rapid COVID-19 tests and protocols currently in use by major professional sports leagues and NCAA athletic programs.
The testing program is also approved by the Texas Education Agency.
Under the program in MISD, a student or staff member will be referred for testing should they begin to exhibit symptoms of COVID-19. Two forms of parental consent will be required, first by registering at https://virtualcarefamilies.com/safe-athletics/ and also a district-required consent form which is provided in the student’s Skyward Family Access Portal.
Once consent has been confirmed, the district’s designated, trained medical professionals will administer a “rapid” COVID-19 test, with results expected within just a few minutes. Should the test come back positive, the individual will immediately be placed in quarantine and the district’s COVID-19 mitigation protocols will be followed.
The tests are approximately 97 percent accurate, according to VCF. MISD medical personnel administering the tests will determine if an individual is permitted to remain on campus with or without a negative test result. This determination will be based on the individual’s specific symptoms in conjunction with the test result and MISD’s illness exclusion criteria.
All MISD students and staff are eligible to benefit from the testing program, provided consent is given. The tests will not be administered to anyone who is not a current student or employee of MISD.
The testing program will be available at all campuses once the district returns from fall break.
Virtual Care For Families CONSENT Form (English)
Virtual Care for Families CONSENT Form (Spanish)
Skyward Family Access Portal
FROM JOHNS HOPKINS1. Transmission Dynamics by Age Group in COVID-19 Hotspot Counties — United States, April–September 2020(CDC MMWR) CDC analyzed temporal trends in percent positivity by age group in COVID-19 hotspot counties before and after their identification as hotspots. Among 767 hotspot counties identified during June and July 2020, early increases in the percent positivity among persons aged ≤24 years were followed by several weeks of increasing percent positivity in persons aged ≥25 years. Addressing transmission among young adults is an urgent public health priority.
2. Polyester Nasal Swabs Collected in a Dry Tube are a Robust and Inexpensive, Minimal Self-Collection Kit for SARS-CoV-2 Testing(MedRxiiv) Polyester nasal swabs stored in saline or in a dry tube were evaluated as an alternative to foam nasal swabs for SARS-CoV-2 testing by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) since they may be inexpensively manufactured at high capacity.
3.Upcoming Center Event: COVID-19 and the US Criminal Justice System- Evidence for Public Health Measures to Reduce RiskJoin the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and the Center for Public Health and Human Rights at the Bloomberg School of Public Health as they release a new report detailing COVID-19’s impact on the United States’ criminal justice system. You are invited to join us on Thursday, October 15 (2-3 PM EDT), for the release of the report and a discussion on the findings and recommendations.4.Total Daily Incidence (change in average incidence; change in rank, if applicable)1. India: 70,960 new cases per day (-7,484)
2. USA: 49,243 (+5,986)
3. Brazil: 25,670 (-470)
4. France: 16,543 (+5,029; ↑ 1)
5. United Kingdom: 14,391 (+4,676; ↑ 2)
6. Argentina: 13,674 (+1,223; ↓ 2)
7. Russia: 11,960 (+2,879; ↑ 1)
8. Spain: 10,169* (+862; ↓ 2)
9. Colombia: 8,038 (+2,038; ↓ 1)
10. Mexico: 7,523 (+3,045; new)
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