LAUSD To Distribute 2 COVID-19 Test Kits To Each Student At Grab-And-Go Sites This Weekend
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — After announcing proof of a negative COVID-19 test will be required in order to return to campuses for the spring semester, Los Angeles Unified School District officials are working on distributing self-test kits to its more than 600,000 students.
With just about a week before classes resume, LAUSD announced on Monday that all students and staff would be required to have a negative COVID-19 test, regardless of vaccination status, uploaded to the district's Daily Pass site by Sunday. The announcement comes as the region is seeing a record surge of new infections that includes more pediatric patients.
Dr. Colleen Kraft, a pediatrician with Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, says more than 15% of kids are now testing positive – a huge jump from November, when just 2.6% were coming in positive.
"Almost five times as many kids getting COVID as back in November," she said.
LAUSD's district offices already serve as testing sites for students, staff, and their families, so hours have been extended to accommodate families trying to comply with the new requirements. Students may also get tested at non-district sites and upload their results to the Daily Pass site by Sunday.
The district is planning to hand out at-home rapid self-tests for all its K-12 students. Each student is eligible to receive two self-tests, which can be picked up at any of the district's 63 Grab & Go sites on Friday and Saturday.
For a map of pickup locations, visit achieve.lausd.net/covid.