Monroe County Health Commissioner Dr. Michael Mendoza says the idea of letting children possibly exposed to COVID stay in school if they continue to test negative for the virus is a good one...but it may be more than most schools across the county can handle.
Mendoza says it requires massive numbers of rapid COVID tests to be administered, and that's a logistical nightmare.
The state of Massachusetts has a "Test and Stay" program in which close contacts come to school and take a rapid test every day for five school days. They can stay at school as long as they remain negative.
Dr. Mendoza says that means a huge amount of work for school nurses, and not all buildings may have that capacity. He says any such plan would have to be countywide, and his staff is talking now with school district officials to see if it's practical.