District 300 hopeful saliva tests for COVID will be available soon
Du Quoin Unit District 300 has reached out to the University of Illinois in hopes of obtaining the SHIELD saliva tests that can determine within 24 hours if a student has contracted COVID-19.
The tests, developed by U of I, are being offered free to Illinois public and private schools by the Illinois Department of Public Health. The IDPH considers SHIELD a highly reliable test - much more so that the rapid COVID-19 tests - that ultimately will contribute to keeping students in school, as opposed to having them sit out on quarantine for as long as two weeks.
The holdup in getting SHIELD tests in Du Quoin, according to District 300 Superintendent Matt Hickam, is the huge demand, which the U of I hasn't been able to meet.
Makers of the SHIELD test say it is noninvasive and does not require a health care professional to administer. Results are promised within 24 hours of the test arriving in the lab; and the test is accurate enough that individuals who test positive don't need to seek a second test result to confirm.
Hickam said some school districts in southern Illinois are using rapid tests to determine whether students exposed to the virus have actually contracted it. Earlier in the year, District 300 rejected the rapid tests as too unreliable, he said, based on advice from local health care practitioners who said the rapid tests are known for false negatives, more than for false positives. As well, people taking rapid tests are almost always advised to get a "regular" or PCR test to confirm the results.
At last week's school board meeting, Hickam said District 300 currently had 100 students on temporary remote learning. He said that the district has had more than 60 confirmed positive cases among students to date (there were 93 during the entire 2020-21 school year).
A third type of COVID-19 test, the Binaxnow test, is being used for school personnel, health care personnel and others in Illinois who are required to be vaccinated - or if not, they must be COVID-19 tested at least once a week.
Hickam said employee testing started this week, with the help of personnel from Marshall Browning Hospital who come to the school district once a week. Employees who work nights or odd shifts can also take advantage of drive-through testing at the hospital.
Hickam said of the about 250 employees, volunteer coaches, bus drivers, and the faculty and staff who work for the special ed cooperative housed at District 300, about 90 are not vaccinated and require weekly testing.
The Binaxnow tests are also coming up short on supply.
Hickam doesn't know exactly when the SHIELD officials will get ahold of District 300, but hopes to hear something within a couple of weeks.