Concord School District is moving forward with pool testing for COVID-19 at Rundlett Middle School this week in an attempt to control an outbreak that was discovered after the long holiday weekend.
Superintendent Kathleen Murphy notified families Tuesday that two “clusters,” including three or more positive individuals in one group, were discovered at Rundlett Middle School last week, one in grade six and one in grade seven. After the long weekend during which Concord School District observed Indigenous Peoples Day, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services determined that the clusters have created an outbreak.
“All the procedures for [contact] tracing and family follow-up have been observed, and quarantines were imposed by our nurses and administrators,” Murphy wrote. “In order to respond to these positive cases and continue to do our best to keep students and staff well, the district is moving forward with ‘pool testing’ to detect other positive cases.”
Pool testing – also referred to as pooling – is when samples from 10-15 students are combined into a common “pool” and then one laboratory test is used to detect COVID-19. Any pooled tests that return positive results will require each student in the sample group to undergo individual rapid tests to determine who is positive. The objective of pooling is to get swift, widespread results that can help a school stop or mitigate outbreaks. Rundlett students require parental permission forms in order to be tested for COVID-19.
“I know these are trying times for families,” Murphy wrote. “We are following all the recommendations and guidance available to us. Our continuing goal is to keep schools open, and teaching and learning to occur daily.”