NBC MINNESOTA KARE11:
Minnesota Offers Free COVID-19 Saliva Testing to School and Child Care Workers
By Jeremiah Jacobsen
Published: September 2, 2020
Published: September 2, 2020
The free tests will be available as needed for up to 250,000 education and child care workers.
ST PAUL, Minn. — The state of Minnesota will be providing free COVID-19 saliva tests for teachers, school staff members, and child care providers this fall.
The state said the tests are not required to return to work in a classroom or child care setting. Instead, state health officials encourage education and child care workers to take advantage of the free testing program when needed, such as in the event they have symptoms or believe they may have been exposed to someone with COVID-19.
The free tests are limited to one per person, and are expected to be available to nearly 250,000 education and child care workers.
According to a news release, the $6 million cost will be largely covered through insurance and federal funding, though the state will cover any other situations to ensure the tests are free to education and child care workers.
“As a classroom teacher for more than 20 years and a parent of a child in public schools, I know that a safe classroom is the foundation for learning,” Governor Tim Walz said in a statement. “Those educating and caring for Minnesota’s next generation deserve the peace of mind that these COVID-19 tests will provide.”
“Our goal is to create safe in-person learning for as many children as possible, and saliva tests are one piece of the puzzle to support that plan,” said Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan.
The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) is sending information for accessing the free tests to school districts, charter schools, tribal schools, and private schools to distribute to staff members. The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) is providing similar information to people working in licensed child care settings and child care centers.
Home schools are currently not covered by the free testing program.
The free saliva-based testing is part of the state’s larger partnership recently announced with Vault Health and Infinity Biologix.
“Adding saliva testing to our testing ecosystem both grows and diversifies our testing capacity,” Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) Commissioner Jan Malcolm said in a statement. “Teachers, school staff, child care center employees have a responsibility to get tested if they believe they’ve been in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19 or is feeling symptoms themselves. We hope this test will provide a convenient, reliable, and quick option for them.”
“Every single educator and school staff member across our state has worked tirelessly to prepare for the upcoming school year and we need to make sure we have their back,” said Minnesota Department of Education Commissioner Mary Cathryn Ricker.
© Spectrum Solutions™ Authorized COVID-19 SDNA-1000 Saliva Collection Testing Kit | Bloomberg News/George Frey
NBC MINNESOTA KARE11:
Minnesota Offers Free COVID-19 Saliva Testing to School and Child Care Workers
By Jeremiah Jacobsen
Published: September 2, 2020
Published: September 2, 2020
The free tests will be available as needed for up to 250,000 education and child care workers.
ST PAUL, Minn. — The state of Minnesota will be providing free COVID-19 saliva tests for teachers, school staff members, and child care providers this fall.
The state said the tests are not required to return to work in a classroom or child care setting. Instead, state health officials encourage education and child care workers to take advantage of the free testing program when needed, such as in the event they have symptoms or believe they may have been exposed to someone with COVID-19.
The free tests are limited to one per person, and are expected to be available to nearly 250,000 education and child care workers.
According to a news release, the $6 million cost will be largely covered through insurance and federal funding, though the state will cover any other situations to ensure the tests are free to education and child care workers.
“As a classroom teacher for more than 20 years and a parent of a child in public schools, I know that a safe classroom is the foundation for learning,” Governor Tim Walz said in a statement. “Those educating and caring for Minnesota’s next generation deserve the peace of mind that these COVID-19 tests will provide.”
“Our goal is to create safe in-person learning for as many children as possible, and saliva tests are one piece of the puzzle to support that plan,” said Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan.
The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) is sending information for accessing the free tests to school districts, charter schools, tribal schools, and private schools to distribute to staff members. The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) is providing similar information to people working in licensed child care settings and child care centers.
Home schools are currently not covered by the free testing program.
The free saliva-based testing is part of the state’s larger partnership recently announced with Vault Health and Infinity Biologix.
“Adding saliva testing to our testing ecosystem both grows and diversifies our testing capacity,” Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) Commissioner Jan Malcolm said in a statement. “Teachers, school staff, child care center employees have a responsibility to get tested if they believe they’ve been in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19 or is feeling symptoms themselves. We hope this test will provide a convenient, reliable, and quick option for them.”
“Every single educator and school staff member across our state has worked tirelessly to prepare for the upcoming school year and we need to make sure we have their back,” said Minnesota Department of Education Commissioner Mary Cathryn Ricker.
© Spectrum Solutions™ Authorized COVID-19 SDNA-1000 Saliva Collection Testing Kit | Bloomberg News/George Frey
Read the full article online at Minnesota’s Kare11.com
Bringing Baseball Back!
How you collect saliva makes a big
diagnostic difference
Increase workplace safety and build team confidence with simple and safe repeat testing programs supporting 100% accurate early detection and easy direct-to-user at-home options. Just ask the MLB, real-world, mass testing scenarios require an authorized, proven, and supported system that mitigates any risk of exposure. See how our saliva collection system is credited for “bringing baseball back” and making Salt Lake “the league’s most important city”.
™/© 2020 MLB
Bringing Baseball Back!
How you collect saliva makes a big
diagnostic difference
Increase workplace safety and build team confidence with simple and safe repeat testing programs supporting 100% accurate early detection and easy direct-to-user at-home options. Just ask the MLB, real-world, mass testing scenarios require an authorized, proven, and supported system that mitigates any risk of exposure. See how our saliva collection system is credited for “bringing baseball back” and making Salt Lake “the league’s most important city”.
™/© 2020 MLB
Why Spectrum?
Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, Spectrum Solutions is a laboratory medicine life science company using its focused industry expertise to drive noninvasive molecular diagnostic and screening IVD innovation. Our pioneering research, products, engineering, and development-to-delivery test kit commercialization capabilities are setting new standards of modernized care for patients, providers, and laboratories in the testing, managing, and treatment of disease.
We believe when you bridge the gap between science and real direct-to-patient medical solutions you deliver innovation with the practical power to impact and change outcomes. Learn more about our expertise by visiting our three fully integrated division pages: Spectrum Medical Science SM, Spectrum Compounding Pharmacy TM, and Spectrum Clinical Manufacturing SM.
Spectrum Corporate Spokesman
Leslie Titus Bryant
Head of Marketing & Brand
admin@spectrumsolution.com
Media Contact
Tim Rush, Springboard5
801-208-1100
tim.rush@springboard5.com
Why Spectrum?
Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, Spectrum Solutions is a laboratory medicine life science company using its focused industry expertise to drive noninvasive molecular diagnostic and screening IVD innovation. Our pioneering research, products, engineering, and development-to-delivery test kit commercialization capabilities are setting new standards of modernized care for patients, providers, and laboratories in the testing, managing, and treatment of disease.
We believe when you bridge the gap between science and real direct-to-patient medical solutions you deliver innovation with the practical power to impact and change outcomes. Learn more about our expertise by visiting our three fully integrated division pages: Spectrum Medical Science SM, Spectrum Compounding Pharmacy TM, and Spectrum Clinical Manufacturing SM.
Spectrum Corporate Spokesman
Leslie Titus Bryant
Head of Marketing & Brand
admin@spectrumsolution.com
Media Contact
Tim Rush, Springboard5
801-208-1100
tim.rush@springboard5.com
Spectrum
in the News
Spectrum
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Noninvasive
Saliva Diagnostics
This changes everything
Health is a dynamic state of well-being. Healthcare providers and researchers have long believed that changes in our saliva record our ongoing state-of-health story. Interestingly, saliva acts as a wide resource of genomic information useful for identifying and monitoring in real-time a disease as well as its state of progression. Saliva analysis looks at the cellular level, the biologically active compounds, making it a true representative of what is clinically relevant.
Spectrum’s technically-superior saliva collection systems have not only been engineered to lead the saliva collection industry in molecular diagnostics and clinical research applications but deliver the safest, most robust biomaterial for the earliest detection and diagnosis of disease and infection.
Noninvasive
Saliva Diagnostics
This changes everything
Health is a dynamic state of well-being. Healthcare providers and researchers have long believed that changes in our saliva record our ongoing state-of-health story. Interestingly, saliva acts as a wide resource of genomic information useful for identifying and monitoring in real-time a disease as well as its state of progression. Saliva analysis looks at the cellular level, the biologically active compounds, making it a true representative of what is clinically relevant.
Spectrum’s technically-superior saliva collection systems have not only been engineered to lead the saliva collection industry in molecular diagnostics and clinical research applications but deliver the safest, most robust biomaterial for the earliest detection and diagnosis of disease and infection.
Outside-of-the-Box Thinking, Inside-of-the-Box Innovation
Anywhere from customized testing solutions to new medical science product innovations–we’re here to help.