As California students take spring breaks, Newsom hails at-home COVID testing program

California has sent more than 14 million at-home COVID tests to schools this month for use by students and staff, according to a weekend news release from the governor’s office.

The deployment means there should be enough tests for all of the roughly 7.2 million students in public and private schools. The state said it allocated tests based on the total number of students and staff in each county.

It coincides with many students and faculty recently returning from or heading into their spring break.

The effort is a part of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s SMARTER plan — the state’s approach to the current stage of the pandemic to minimize the virus’ spread.

“California is focused on keeping schools open and students safe, and we’re not letting our guard down,” Newsom said in a statement.

Nearly two years after the first pandemic shutdown, California also lifted the mask mandate in schools March 12 but still strongly recommends masking in the classroom.

In addition to the tests, the state also noted it has distributed 40.6 million KN95, N95 and surgical masks to schools since the return from winter break and 1 billion personal protective equipment units such as masks, gloves and hand sanitizer.

This story was originally published March 27, 2022 at 4:51 PM.