The Mahomet-Seymour School District kicked off their weekly COVID-19 antigen testing site with over 556 tests for students and staff Tuesday.
The district had 845 testing slots available from 8 a.m. to 5:45 p.m.
The district received 57,000 of Abbott’s BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag Card tests through the Champaign-Urbana Public Health Department and plans to provide free testing to students and staff at Mahomet-Seymour Junior High School on Mondays from 8 a.m to noon and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. moving forward.
District Nurse Nita Bachman said that the district updated the COVID-19 dashboard as positive cases and exposures were identified throughout the day, whether the case was identified through another test or through the district’s test.
Parents are required to sign their child up for a testing slot and fill out a consent form prior to utilizing the program.
“We are thankful that we can provide this service for our students and staff,” Bachman said. “I would remind parents that when they sign up for a testing time, they need to enter their student’s name(s), not theirs. We need to know who we are testing. If they have already completed a consent form, they do not need to complete it again.”
As of 5:45 on Jan. 5, seven in-person students tested positive for COVID-19 and eight students will be placed in quarantine after being exposed.
The Champaign-Urbana Public Health Department daily COVID-19 reports show that after a mid-November spike, which peeked at 109 and 105 active cases on Nov. 17 and 18, fell to 47 active cases on Dec. 26. Over the last 10 days, Mahomet active cases are on the rise again, climbing to 74 on Jan. 5.
Eight positive cases were identified among students registered for in-person learning in the Mahomet-Seymour School District on Jan. 4, prior to antigen testing. Two positive cases were identified on Jan. 2.
In the first five days November, the Mahomet-Seymour School District reported 0 positive cases and in the first five days of December, 10 positive cases were reported. In the first four months of school, the Mahomet-Seymour School District saw the most positive cases in November (46). In December, they reported 37 positive cases.
The Mahomet-Seymour School District will return to school on Jan. 6 with a four-day a synchronous schedule, keeping Mondays as asynchronous for teachers to have planning and professional development time.
The next available antigen testing date at Mahomet-Seymour is Jan. 11.
Data taken from CUPHD daily data for zip code 61853.
Data taken from Mahomet-Seymour School District COVID-19 dashboard, showing positive cases among in-person students.
