Testing Protocols

List of 3 items.

• Rapid Antigen Testing

  Rapid antigen testing is convenient because the turnaround time is less than two hours. This is helpful when the turnaround time of RT-PCR can stretch to several days. Particularly, it is helpful when symptomatic individuals with an exposure history test positive. However, several rapid tests have a high frequency of false positives or false negatives. The lack of reliability of these tests makes them less effective in both the clinical and educational setting. Parker has learned over time that accepting rapid antigen test results is not an adequate substitute for either LAMP screening or RT-PCR. In the past, in an effort to accommodate the academic needs of families, and given the slow turnaround of RT-PCR tests, the nurses’ office has occasionally accepted rapid antigen testing on a case-by-case basis. Moving forward we will not accept any rapid antigen test results for re-entry or participation in in-person school activities. An RT-PCR test or the school’s LAMP screening program are the only acceptable tests for re-entry to in-person school activities provided the student has fulfilled all other requirements for return to in-person, such those related to travel (see below).

  Read More

• RT-PCR Testing

  RT-PCR testing is the gold standard of testing for COVID-19. This is the most sensitive test and tends to be the most accurate. Unfortunately, RT-PCR tests take longer and are very expensive, making them less viable for ongoing surveillance in a school setting. That is why we have chosen LAMP screening as a cost-effective and timely test that holds acceptable accuracy for our educational environment.

  Read More

• Saliva LAMP Screening

  Since January, Parker has been relying on saliva surveillance screening using LAMP technology. The LAMP screening amplifies RNA in a manner similar to that of RT-PCR tests but is more cost effective and is highly sensitive for the purposes of screening a population. Since our provider began offering LAMP screening to schools and school districts, screens have been shown to be highly accurate. After thousands of weekly screens, the rate of false positives and false negatives is extremely low. This technology is better at detecting COVID-19 than a rapid antigen test. In individuals with clinically significant amounts of virus it is just as sensitive as RT-PCR which is considered the gold standard. In other words, individuals whether symptomatic or asymptomatic who have enough virus to be considered contagious will almost always screen positive in LAMP testing. For this reason, we have chosen to do surveillance screening at Parker in the following settings:

  • upon re-entry from vacations and breaks for the whole school,
  • routinely for upper school students in the academic setting,
  • for upper school students participating in sports and some extracurricular clubs and activities.

  As with any other screen, RT-PCR included, LAMP screening will sometimes miss cases with very low amounts of virus. We consider that acceptable, because this is not a diagnostic test meant to treat individuals with COVID-19 and because it is but one of several layers of risk mitigation.

  Read More