Pool testing is a surveillance approach to looking for covid. A pool is a group of people who get the more accurate polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, allowing the school to accurately identify who is covid positive. The PCR test works by detecting the presence of a virus or leftover fragments of a virus after the time of the infection. Therefore, the test will be able to recognize the virus that is the cause of covid. If someone in your pool is positive, everyone in that pool comes back for a rapid antigen test. A rapid antigen test works by successfully identifying protein fragments of coronavirus, and gives fast results in the span of typically 15-30 minutes. The efficiency of the test is an accurate and convenient way to detect covid after the virus has been revealed to be present in the body. This prevents people from staying home unnecessarily if they were in close contact with no symptoms, and eases the minds of concerned parents. If you have symptoms, however, it does not matter if you are vaccinated or not, it is highly recommended to not come to school, for the safety of yourselves and others.

There is a link on the RSU21 homepage that allows you to enter the code of your school, where you can then proceed to fill out and submit the form to sign up. This gets sent to the nurse who then notifies parents of the time the student’s pool testing will take place. The student is then responsible for coming down at their assigned time once a week. These tests are very important, as it is essential to keeping the school safe and aware of covid cases. Without pool testing, it would be a lot harder to tell who is positive and trace who else has symptoms. Make sure to sign up before it’s not too late! The testing takes place in Gym B and is a very short process involving swirling a nose swab several times in each nostril. Instructions are given at the time of testing.