Bringing Children Back to In-Person Learning More Safely with COVID-19 testing
Information for Parents and Caregivers
Key Ways to Keep Children Safe from COVID-19
Get Vaccinated!
Vaccination is the most important action you can take to protect yourself and your child from COVID-19. Make sure all adults in your family are vaccinated. If your child is above the age of 5, please make sure they are vaccinated for COVID-19 and up to date on their other vaccines.
Mask Up!
- Continue use of masks for both vaccinated and unvaccinated persons indoors.
- Be an example for your child and let them know your expectation for them to use masks at school.
- Masks are one of the most effective and simplest safety measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
- Get Creative: have a mask-making project with your child and make sure their mask is comfortable for their face.
Get Tested!
- Regular testing in schools helps catch COVID before community spreading.
- Most children with COVID infections generally don’t have symptoms but can still transmit the disease, that is why we test even when children are feeling fine.
- With the new Omicron Variant more children are becoming ill and being hospitalized so stopping spread is critical.
- School COVID testing in California is generally free and does not require health insurance, results are confidential.
Consent for Testing!
Make sure you sign any request for COVID-19 testing consent from your school or its testing partners (like Primary, Gingko, Color or others). If you can’t do it online, get a paper consent or call the phone number.
Helpful Tips for Parents and Caregivers about Rapid Testing
Additional Resources for Families
How to consent my child to be tested?
There are three different ways to provide consent for your child to be tested at their school (or for home testing programs).
Option 1: You will receive an invitation from Primary.Health, or other school testing providers (like Gingko or Color) via text or email.
Option 2: Your child may bring a paper consent home for you to sign and return to school with your child.
Option 3: You can call the consenting hotline and provide consent for your child over the phone at (650) 275-5419 for Primary.Health.
Are you in a home testing program? Step by Step Instructions on how to do the at-home BinaxNOW test:
Step 1: Open the test card from the packaging and lay it on a flat surface.
Step 2: Have your child gently swab each nostril in circles for 15 seconds.
Step 3: Add 6 drops of the reagent solution onto the test card in the top hole.
Step 4: Insert the cotton swab into the test card bottom hole and push it through to the top hole, then twirl 3 times.
Step 5: Remove the tape and close the cover with the front facing up, leave it lying flat.
Step 6: Wait 15 minutes for the result.
Step 7: Read the result, one pink line is negative, two pink lines is positive (watch the video for more details).
Step 8: Log your result into Primary.Health.
Abbott BinaxNOW Home Testing Video
PBS Parent’s Page
Primary.Health Parent’s Page
CDPH Safe Schools Parent Page
Rockefeller Foundation’s Report on Parent’s Aptitude to School Re-Opening
To Learn More about Testing in Schools visit our Main Site
Videos about COVID-19 Testing in Schools
COVID-19 Testing at Home WITH INSTRUCTIONS
COVID-19 Testing at Home with Instructions (Chinese Language Video)
La Prueba de COVID-19 en Casa CON INSTRUCCIONES
© 2021 Safely Opening Schools. All rights reserved. Site design by Doug Rider Consulting.
Safely Opening Schools is a project of the Public Health Institute, (PHI) PHI has been a leader in public health and development for over 50 years. PHI is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a vision of creating healthy communities where individuals reach their highest potential. Safely Opening Schools is part of PHIs Prevention Policy Group, which works on policy approaches involved in safely opening public schools after Covid-19.
