Description:
As part of our effort to protect the health and safety of our employees and students, this contract will provide on-site asymptomatic employee COVID-19 testing at District work sites, manage Stationary Mobile Sites for student and employee symptomatic testing, and provide supplemental support to the School District in its efforts to test students in its schools as necessary and support a smooth transition to vendors selected through a competitive procurement process. Extension of the agreement for COVID testing on a monthly basis through the start of the school year, to end no later than the end of October, will help to ensure a smooth transition to vendors selected from Competitive RFP Number: NG10058 - COVID Testing Program Administration.
COVID-19 testing directly supports the Board of Education's Guardrail 1 to ensure a safe and healthful space where students and employees feel confident they are in a healthful environment.
How will the success of this contract be measured?
While testing protocols may change during the year in response to guidance from the Philadelphia Department of Public Health and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, success of the vendor will be measured by timely testing and results reporting. The success of the testing program will result in the timely reporting of positive tests for employees who are working in our buildings to limit the spread of the virus to others.
If this is the continuation of a contract, how has success been measured in the past and what specific information do we have to show that it was successful?
To date, over 200,000 tests have been performed, which has enabled us to promptly identify hot spots, initiate contract tracing and quickly act to avoid wide-spread exposure to the virus.
Growing evidence shows persons with asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic infection are frequent contributors to community SARS-CoV-2 transmission and occurrence of COVID-19. As provided by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), testing, regardless of signs or symptoms, is a key component to a layered approach to preventing the transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Screening allows early identification and isolation of persons who are asymptomatic, pre-symptomatic, or have only mild symptoms and who might be unknowingly transmitting virus.
The City of Philadelphia Department of Public Health and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia were previously consulted on the program design and feedback from our staff during the initial testing program were included to include a depth of understanding the programs impact on schools and operating units.