COVID test supplies, Labor Support Fund, general info

Schools can continue to order free COVID tests from DOH by using the School Test Request Smartsheet.  Schools should order a 30-day supply of tests and know it will take 10days for orders to be fulfilled.  Your school must be registered on DOH’s Shipping Information Form before any order can be fulfilled.  

The new BD Triplex combo Covid & Flu test kits have greatly benefited daily school culture by instantly showing if someone has COVID or the flu. There is NO fee for this test nor the associated changes to your existing CLIA (now called MTS) license. But schools must complete the Test Menu Change Form to get “Rapid Antigen Flu A + B” and may need to search for your school MTS # https://fortress.wa.gov/doh/facilitysearch/ in order to complete that form.

DOH & Learn to Return have conveyed that test kits will continue to be free through the 2022-23 academic year. Expiration dates have been extended, so long as the kit is functionally intact. Remind your staff & families: If the control line is visible, it is a valid test. If the control line is not visible, the test is invalid, should be thrown away, and the person should be retested.

If you have issues with multiple tests not showing the control line, please note the lot number and quantity of defective tests and whether the tests came through the school ordering portal, then inform Health Commons / DOH. 

Learn to Return program schools are eligible for Labor Support Funding to recover time that staff is focused on testing activities. This includes, but is not limited to, placing orders, unpacking shipments, messaging families, dispersing kits, and recording and reporting case results. FUNDING STILL EXISTS! As does free PPE supplies at many of the ESDs.

Contact L2R Project Managers at schools@healthcommonsproject.org  or your ESD COVID Coordinator found below: