Vaccinated and asymptomatic students and staff in certain Ontario high schools who are exposed to COVID-19 through an outbreak or cohort will be given an at-home test as part of a pilot project set to begin next month.
A memo from the deputy minister of education sent to directors of education says the pilot is scheduled to run from Sept. 7 to Oct. 29 at targeted schools in 13 public health units across the province.
The document says, however, that participation in the program is voluntary, and students will not be required to disclose their vaccination status in order to receive a testing kit.
It says completed and packaged test specimens are to be dropped off at the schools, where they will be picked up by a courier.
The memo says high schools were chosen based on the local public health situation, including vaccination rates and recent data on COVID-19 positivity rates.
Among them are schools in the Peel Region, Windsor-Essex, Niagara Region, Eastern Ontario and other health units.