Aegis Launches COVID-19 Testing Program for Schools

to help keep schools open during the COVID-19 pandemic through pooled testing.

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Provider: 
Business Wire, Inc.Business Wire, Inc.
Retrieved on: 
Thursday, June 10, 2021
Information
Tags: 
Professional services, Pharmaceutical, Preschool, Other Education, Infectious diseases, University, Primary, Secondary, Education, Science, Consulting, Other Science, Health, Articles, Contemporary history, Health, Combinatorics, Design of experiments, Group testing, COVID-19 pandemic
Geotags: 
United States, Tennessee, NASHVILLE
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Organisation: 
AEGIS SCIENCES CORPORATION
Summary
Key Points: 
  • to help keep schools open during the COVID-19 pandemic through pooled testing.
  • This testing program was designed to be simple for schools to use while reducing costs and increasing access to testing.
  • to make ongoing testing easy for teachers and students, so schools can safely and confidently remain open.
  • Aegis tests and reports each pool, and follow-up testing is recommended for each student or staff in a positive pool.


Today, Aegis Sciences Corporation launched TestingWorks! to help keep schools open during the COVID-19 pandemic through pooled testing. This testing program was designed to be simple for schools to use while reducing costs and increasing access to testing.

“We’re at a critical point in the pandemic right now, and it’s vital that we continue tracking the virus to prevent it from spreading in our schools,” said Dr. Frank Basile, CEO of Aegis Sciences Corporation. “We created TestingWorks! to make ongoing testing easy for teachers and students, so schools can safely and confidently remain open. Our goal is to have every child back in the classroom for the 2021-2022 school year, and pooled testing is the best way to achieve that.”

The CDC recommends pooled or batch testing as a strategy to help schools track possible infections among students and teachers and prevent the virus from spreading. Ongoing testing allows schools to remain open for in-person learning. Aegis developed TestingWorks! as a simple solution that will work for schools of multiple sizes and budgets. The test itself was designed to be easy enough for children to collect themselves under supervision. Each test takes around 15 seconds to collect, resulting in minimal disruptions to the school day.

TestingWorks! provides multiple options for schools to test students and staff. Pooled In-Lab tests are collected individually and combined together at Aegis labs into pools. Each positive pool is reflexed to individual tests so that every student and staff receives an individual result. Pooled On-Site tests are collected together in one test tube with up to 10 samples in each tube. Aegis tests and reports each pool, and follow-up testing is recommended for each student or staff in a positive pool. Pooled testing allows schools to pay less to test a large number of students. There are specific benefits for pooling in the lab and pooled on site that can also be considered by each school system to determine which option is best for them.

Results from either test are available to the schools within 24 hours on average, and the TestingWorks! team will work with schools with a positive case to determine the best course of action.

Aegis currently offers COVID- 19 testing nationally for clients including state departments of health, departments of corrections, large health systems, healthcare providers, pharmacies, senior living centers, employers, universities and sports teams. Aegis’s testing project is supported by the NIH Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADxSM) initiative and has been funded in whole or in part with federal funds from the Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract No. 75N92020C00022. Its laboratories are accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) and are CLIA-certified through the Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

About Aegis Sciences Corporation

Founded in 1990, Aegis Sciences Corporation is a laboratory sciences company based in Nashville, Tenn., that provides science-driven testing and consulting services for clients such as healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies, professional and amateur sports organizations, leading college and university athletic programs, Fortune 500 corporations, and government agencies throughout the United States. For more information, please visit http://www.aegislabs.com/.

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