Covid-19

Where Are At-Home COVID Test Kits State Promised School Districts?

Gov. Gavin Newsom said there would be 6 million home test kits for students to use; most districts in San Diego are still waiting

NBC Universal, Inc.

Parents are waiting. School districts are waiting. When is the state going to deliver the promised 6 million COVID-19 home test kits to districts throughout the state as Gov. Gavin Newsom promised during an announcement Dec. 22?

The San Diego County Office of Education has not received any tests, despite efforts to find out the timeline for delivery.

NBC 7 reached out to the governor’s office and was told, “San Diego is receiving its full shipment by tomorrow [Tuesday]. Some kits arrived as well today."

The San Diego County Office of Education said it did not receive any test kits on Monday. It looks forward to see what happens Tuesday.

This is a statement from the California Department of Public Health after NBC 7 called for an update:

"California is committed to our goal of minimizing the spread of COVID-19 and keeping our schools safe.

Over the last several weeks, the state has made millions of tests available to counties, and county offices of education are coordinating distribution processes to get those tests into the hands of students and parents as soon as possible.

Last week alone, the state delivered approximately 3 million tests to counties. Another 1 million tests are currently en route to counties due to arrive in the next 24 hours.

While millions of tests have already been delivered to California families, many others have been delayed by the unprecedented storms the country has seen over the last two weeks. About 1.5 million tests are anticipated to arrive to the state’s warehouse today which will immediately be shipped to counties across the state.

These efforts will ensure California schools remain among the safest in the nation.

Earlier in December, California also sent millions of tests to schools in anticipation of a caseload surge, and increased demand for testing. California preemptively sent approximately 2 million at-home COVID tests to 3,000 schools across the state, and many schools sent students home from Winter break with COVID tests in hand."

While California educates over 12% of the nation’s students, the state accounts for only 0.3% of school closures nationwide in the 2021-22 school year.

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