Rapid COVID-19 testing underway at 2 Montreal high schools

RapidCOVID-19 testing kits have mostly been gathering dust since the federal government delivered them to the province last fall, but some ofthem are finally being put to use in two Montreal high schools.

Asymptomatic students and staff are being tested at random as part of a pilot project, in an effort to determine how effective the tests can be in detecting and slowing down classroom outbreaks.

The two highschools taking part in the project are Calixa-Lavalle in Montral-Nord and thePensionnat du Saint-Nom-de-Marie in Outremont.

A slow rollout of the rapid tests began Monday with staff atthe Pensionnat, in an effort to putapprehensive students at ease.

"Yesterday was sort of a practice run," saidAntonella Picillo, the school's director of student services. "We wanted to really make the students comfortable, so some staff members even got tested in front of students just to show them that it's a quick and easy test."

A quarter of the students and staff from both schools who gave their consent will be tested every week, and those who test positive will be isolated.

Dr. Caroline Quach, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist and medical microbiologist at Sainte-Justine Hospital, is heading the project, and will provide regular updates to the Quebec government.

The project will also look at the impact of bringing students and teachers back to school after seven days versus 14 days.

The rapid tests whichcan be produce results in as little as 15 minutes will be used to monitor those brought back from isolation early.

The province received more than a million rapid testing kits last fall,but most of them have yet to be deployed due to concerns over reliability.