The Madison Elementary School District in Phoenix has announced that it will keep using a new quarantine option that it tested earlier this month with the Maricopa County health department.
The test-to-stay program will allow students to skip at-home quarantine and remain in school after COVID-19 exposure as long as they follow masking and testing protocols, remain asymptomatic and test negative.
The Madison district tested the program with the county health department earlier this month. The final results of the pilot are not expected to be released until early January, but based on preliminary results, the district has decided to expand it to all of its schools when classes resume next month.
"We are grateful to be a part of this program as it allows our students to remain in the classroom and reduces the number of students who need to quarantine at home," a district spokeswoman said in a statement.
The program is modeled after others being used across the country. These kinds of programs recently received support from the Centers for Disease Control and Disease after two of its reportsconcluded that they are promising.
"These studies demonstrate that test-to-stay works to keep unvaccinated students in schools safely," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky.
The CDC’s website has information on how this program can be safely implemented in schools.
