ਸਕੂਲਾਂ ‘ਚ ਕੋਵਿਡ ਦੇ ਵਧਦੇ ਮਾਮਲਿਆਂ ਨੂੰ ਵੇਖਦਿਆਂ, ਟੋਰਾਂਟੋ ਮਾਪਿਆਂ ਨੇ ਸਕੂਲ ਰੈਪਿਡ ਟੈਸਟਿੰਗ ਪ੍ਰੋਗਰਾਮ ਸਥਾਪਤ ਕੀਤਾ
Some Toronto primary school parents started from the ground up, finding a supplier in the Waterloo region, travelling there and back multiple times a month to pick up the kits, and spreading the word through word of mouth.
According to founder Sam Kaufman, 280 kids at Earl Beatty Junior and Senior Public School, as well as some siblings, have participated in the twice-week testing regime, completing close to 1,000 examinations thus far this school year. Asa, his eight-year-old son, is a student at the school and participates.
“The idea of this kind of screening is to catch cases early,” Kaufman, a data scientist.
“You may not be able to keep a class from going home, but you should be able to keep a lot of kids from getting sick and the outbreak from spreading.”
The tests were supplied by the Stay Safe initiative in Waterloo Region, which assists businesses and communities in scaling up fast testing.
Kaufman is dissatisfied with the Ontario government’s failure to lead quick testing initiatives in schools, particularly as outbreaks grow. 11 schools in Toronto are currently suffering outbreaks, while a Durham Region school has shuttered for at least two weeks, with pupils returning to online study.
“I’m not sure why we wouldn’t utilize every instrument at our disposal to attempt to keep COVID out of our classrooms,” he said.