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LAUSD Will Begin Ramping Up COVID-19 Testing Program For Staff, Students
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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After nearly one month of trials and practice runs, Los Angeles public school officials have announced they’re ready to start testing all of the district’s students and staff members every so often for COVID-19.
L.A. Unified School District officials said the first invitations for coronavirus screenings went out last week: some 5,000 district staff working on campuses and their children, who are receiving special on-site child care, took tests on Thursday and Friday. Testing for this group of employees will continue this week.
“We’re just getting started,” LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner said in an interview on Sunday.
By the end of this week, Beutner expects all LAUSD staff to receive invitations for COVID-19 tests at one of 42 sites district-wide. Within a few more weeks, he expects the program to expand to all students, starting at the elementary level.
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