The Mississippi State Department of Health, with the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC), is supporting voluntary testing for COVID-19 in kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) school settings.
The goal of this program is to slow the spread of COVID-19 in these settings and to maintain in-person education through frequent testing of teachers/staff and students. There are three options to this program.
- Option 1: Schools are provided tests and conduct their school screening testing or post-exposure testing themselves
- Option 2: Schools may choose to utilize the MSDH testing vendor who will conduct the weekly school screening testing for the school. More details
- Option 3: In addition to Options 1 and 2, MSDH will provide schools with Home Tests which the school will distribute to students and staff for screening testing or post-exposure testing
Please review the School-Based COVID-19 Testing Playbook for detailed explanations of each option, recommended testing algorithms, management of test results, and directions to enroll your school district. It is recommended that parental consent is obtained to conduct tests.
Note: Schools participating in Phase 1 of the testing initiative are also required to report all individual test results through Simple Report for each test they conduct.
More Information
For guidance and assistance with the testing program, send e-mail to COVIDSchoolReporting@msdh.ms.gov
Resources
- School-Based COVID-19 Testing PlaybookOverview and guide to enrollment, testing, reporting and management of positive cases
- School-Based COVID-19 Testing Initiative Agreement for School Districts
- CLIA Certificate of Waiver Application for School Districts
- Overview of Maverick Health School Testing
