NEEDHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - As vaccines continue to roll out, many businesses are trying to find ways to keep operating while staying safe.
A Needham preschool is conducting its own testing for students and staff.
Six-year-old Etta Dildine is one of about 400 children and adult staffers who get weekly COVID-19 testing at the preschool and after-school programs at Temple Beth Shalom in Needham.
Ellen Dietrick the Temple’s Director of Early Childhood Learning, says every Thursday the tests are sent off to a lab in Tennessee which usually gets the results back the next day. This allows for the staff to respond quickly to any new cases –something they could not do before.
“The tests were taking seven, eight, nine, 10 days to come back,” Dietrick said. “And so, we were seeing teachers out of classrooms for at least a week, children out of classrooms for at least a week and it was really becoming unmanageable.”
Etta’s parents are both doctors and made an instructional video that walks the viewer through at-home nasal swabbing for the other families in the program.
“The kids love it,” Dietrick said. “Actually, on the first day, we did the testing one of the parents texted me the picture of her son holding this giant stuffed elephant and swabbing him with a cue tip.”
The parents and temple split the cost of the $50 test and many say this new method is worth every penny.
“As a parent, I feel so safe coming into work. I’m not worried that my child is going to get sick or myself,” said teacher and parent Johari Pimentel.
Dietrick said that as the technology evolves, they will continue to look for cheaper options. They are even exploring the idea of buying their own testing machine.
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