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What We Know So Far About LAUSD's Coronavirus Testing Program
Jose Vatres (R) holds his son Aidin who reacts as nurse practitioner Alexander Panis (L) takes a nasal swab sample to test for COVID-19 at a testing station in Compton on April 28, 2020. (ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)
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Way back in March, Stephanie Mednick remembers talking with a group of fellow school nurses about what steps they'd need to take to reopen campuses.
The idea of widespread coronavirus testing did come up. But these nurses knew better than to expect that the Los Angeles Unified School District would actually do it.
"It sort of was like, 'Oh, yeah right, we're really going to do that,'" said Mednick, who's been an LAUSD nurse for 38 years.
But widespread coronavirus screening is now exactly what LAUSD hopes to do. Over the weekend, district leaders rolled out their ambitious plan -- estimated to cost $150 million -- to slowly begin testing all students and staff periodically for COVID-19, along with contact tracing efforts and research on school reopening.
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