The surveillance program is still in its early phases after an initial meeting with program officials last week, but Penca said the goal is to set up a third saliva testing site, ideally in east Flagstaff, to join those at Fort Tuthill and the NAU Fieldhouse. The district is still determining if its saliva testing will be offered in a drive-through format, and if students and staff will be randomly selected for the test, or if they will have the option to sign up for an appointment voluntarily. This program will begin among the FUSD staff and students who are currently onsite, such as through Safe Learning Centers, special education programs and athletics, and then expand when in-person learning resumes -- which Penca told the board he hopes will be able to occur by the fourth quarter. Administrators believe having these two different types of COVID-19 tests will create a robust testing program within the district and also be used to reduce the number of false positive or negative tests. “It’s just another layer to really make sure we’re catching those cases and being able to start our contact tracing process quickly,” Bevirt said.

Source: Daily Sun December 10, 2020 12:08 UTC