{"id":147142,"date":"2021-08-29T07:30:02","date_gmt":"2021-08-29T17:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=147142"},"modified":"2021-08-31T09:11:44","modified_gmt":"2021-08-31T19:11:44","slug":"covid19-school-testing-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2021\/08\/29\/covid19-school-testing-program\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 school testing, education program expands to 8 locations"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

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A University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa<\/a>-led public-impact project to improve safety in schools through COVID-19 testing and teacher education has greatly expanded to some of the hardest-hit areas in the state, thanks to a recent $3 million award<\/a> from the National Institutes of Health<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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After a successful spring pilot COVID-19 testing program at Kamaile Academy<\/a>, weekly testing is now taking place at four additional locations in West Oʻahu<\/span> (Waiʻanae<\/span> High School, N\u0101n\u0101kuli High and Intermediate School, Papahana ʻo<\/span> Kaiona and Waiʻanae<\/span> Coast Comprehensive Health Center), which is currently seeing a COVID-19 case surge and double digits in the daily positivity rate in the community<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Testing has also begun this week at three Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Island locations (Honokaʻa<\/span> Armory, Kohala High Gym and Thelma Parker Gym), with more expected in the coming weeks in Windward Oʻahu<\/span>.<\/p>\n

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    The project is led by the Pacific Alliance Against COVID-19<\/a> (PAAC<\/abbr>), a collaborative effort between UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa\u2019s College of Social Sciences<\/a>, John A. Burns School of Medicine<\/a> (JABSOM<\/abbr>) and College of Education<\/a>, and the Accountable Healthcare Alliance of Rural Oʻahu<\/span>.<\/p>\n

    The Kamaile Academy pilot project resulted in 87% of participants reporting their participation led to a better understanding of the need for testing, and 52% were more likely to be vaccinated as a result of the pilot testing and education program, according to project co-investigator Ruben Juarez<\/strong>, a professor of economics<\/a> and research fellow in the UH<\/abbr> Economic Research Organization<\/a> in the College of Social Sciences.<\/p>\n

    “We found that vaccine hesitancy is a major contributing factor for the increased rates of COVID-19 in our communities. The data we are collecting from thousands of participants tested for COVID-19 in these affected communities help us resolve this hesitancy,” said Juarez.<\/p>\n

    “With the expansion to Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Island, PAAC<\/abbr> will apply the learnings acquired in West Oʻahu<\/span> to increase safety in three additional schools in partnership with the H\u0101m\u0101kua-Kohala Health Center,” added May Okihiro<\/strong>, associate professor in pediatrics and project co-investigator.<\/p>\n