HCMC provides Covid-19 test kits for schools

The municipal Education Department announced Thursday that each school had been given 20 kits.

In case they use up the supply, they would be given more, it stated.

As regulated, schools will have to test all students having Covid-19-like symptoms, including fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, stuffy nose, body aches, fatigue, chills, loss of taste or smell, headache, diarrhea, breathing difficulty.

The city, which is home to 2,353 schools including 1,346 kindergartens, came up with the decision to supply test kits after many schools reported a lack of funds to screen their students.

In HCMC, students from kindergartens to 6th grades returned to class in mid-February while those from 7th to 11th grades returned to school in January after 12th graders resumed direct classes last year.

Since Feb. 7, almost 10,000 students have contracted Covid-19 across the city.