Five COVID-19 rapid tests will be sent home with every student enrolled in Kelowna-area schools unless parents say by this Friday they don’t want to receive the kits.
“The contents of these tests are completely safe, and our plan is to give test kits to students to bring home in their backpacks,” reads part of an email sent Tuesday evening by Central Okanagan Public Schools’ officials to Kelowna-area parents.
Parents who don’t want to receive the rapid antigen test kits must indicate their opposition before Friday. The email response form does not require people to give a reason why they don’t want the tests.
Health Minister Adrian Dix said last week schools will receive 3.8 million kits for distribution among K-12 students, plus another 2.1 million for colleges and universities.
“These allocations related to education mark an important shift, as students will be offered in the coming weeks the opportunity to take home one five-test kit for their and their family’s future use, if they were to become symptomatic,” Dix said.
Only people who show signs of COVID-19 should use the tests, he said.
“That hasn’t changed. Increased test availability means that more members of the general population will be able to access tests to use to understand their own symptoms and illness, and to take action to limit transmission to their friends, family and work,” Dix said.
Across B.C., 48% of children age five to 11 have been vaccinated against COVID-19, the B.C. Centre for Disease Control says in its most recent situation report. Among children age 12 to 17, the vaccination rate is 87% for one dose, and 83% for two doses.
The comparable vaccination rates for most areas of the Central Okanagan are slightly below the provincial average.
For example, the one-shot vaccination rate for children five to 11 is 35% in the Central Okanagan’s rural regions, and it’s 40% in Rutland, and 41% in Lake Country. The rate is highest in Okanagan Mission, at 60%.
Five COVID-19 tests coming for each Kelowna student's backpack - The Daily Courier
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