SAN ANTONIO – Community Labs, a local nonprofit organization, is working with the San Antonio Independent School District to administer COVID-19 tests before classes resume on Monday.
According to Community Labs, Pedro Martines, superintendent of SAISD, asked the nonprofit to provide testing at the district’s high school campuses, which will take place on Saturday.
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Testing is restricted to SAISD students and staff. Community Labs president and CEO Sal Webber said the nonprofit will be able to identify positive cases before the start of classes.
“We test at 94 SAISD campuses weekly, but because of this week’s winter storms, schools were closed and we had to suspend those screenings,” Webber said. “We applaud Superintendent Martinez’s foresight to resume testing on Saturday. Because we use highly sensitive PCR tests and return results within 24 hours, we’ll be able to identify COVID-19-positive students and staff, allow them to quarantine, and safely return others to the classroom on Monday.”
Martinez said he was grateful to secure testing for this weekend and that the district would move forward with weekly testing provided by the group.
“It has been a very difficult week for our community, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back on Monday. We know people have been in close quarters with family and friends because of the weather, and we want to provide a safe environment when they return,” Martinez said. “We are grateful to be able to provide asymptomatic testing this weekend, and we will return to providing this testing weekly on all of our campuses from our pre-kindergarteners through our high school seniors moving forward. We will finish this year strong, and we will begin next school year even stronger for it.”
Related: COVID-19 testing to be provided Saturday for San Antonio ISD students, staff