33 Reading Middle Schoolers Quarantine After COVID Exposure

READING, MA — Dozens of students at Parker Middle School are in quarantine due to COVID-19 exposure, Superintendent John Doherty said Sunday. In his latest district update, Doherty wrote that four students tested positive and three classes were exposed.

Thirty-three middle schoolers are quarantining. No staff are in quarantine.

There were also three cases at the high school, five at Wood End Elementary School and one at Coolidge Middle School, Doherty said. Nine students and one staff member at Wood end are quarantining as well.

The district held two forums this week on pooled testing, a group-testing strategy that proponents say is more efficient and cost-effective.

The testing method involves mixing several test samples together in a batch and testing the pooled sample for the coronavirus. If a pool comes back positive, everyone in the pool will be tested individually, enabling health officials to isolate cases.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will fund pooled testing until March 28, after which districts would be responsible for securing their own funding.