At-home COVID-19 tests helped identify hundreds of infected students and teachers, preventing them from returning to school sick, but test shortages frustrate many parents.
As thousands of kids around the Bay Area return to class this week following a winter break marred by the coronavirus, COVID-19 tests that schools provided over the holidays are turning up hundreds of infections among Bay Area students and teachers — and keeping them from bringing the virus back to campus.
The Oakland school district said Tuesday that teachers, students and their families had reported 21,000 results from at-home tests and identified 472 positive cases — 396 among students, 64 among staff and 12 among family members. Combined with other testing over the winter break, the district reported a total of 920 infections among students or staff.
Many families there said their kids started showing symptoms of illness in the last few days, but they hadn’t been able to find tests at medical centers or hospitals and didn’t want to risk sending their kids to school without one. Avila said her daughter Emily Angel has had a cough for several days, but they couldn’t get a test anywhere.
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