Blue Ridge School has increased its commitment to student and community health with the acquisition of a rapid test machine for COVID-19. The new device will allow the School to get results within 15 minutes, rather than the two-to-three day wait when using an outside lab.

The rapid test machine is Blue Ridge School’s latest addition to a host of public health technologies and practices being used on campus to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among the student body and the faculty and staff. The School conducts batch testing of the entire community each week students are on campus. Students wear face coverings during class; and all adults wear face coverings while indoors. Students and faculty also wear health monitoring wristbands to detect illnesses as quickly as possible. 

Director of Campus Safety and Security Mike Jamrozek says, “The rapid test is a tremendous asset for us. If we get a positive result from a batch test, we can use the rapid test to quickly identify the sick member of our community and immediately begin contact tracing.”

The machine is a handheld BD Veritor Plus system that can also test for Flu A+B, Group A Strep, and RSV (respiratory infection). Since the rapid test accuracy is about 85%, Blue Ridge School nurses will follow with a more accurate nasal PCR test to verify the diagnosis.

Using the rapid test machine on campus required the School to get a waiver from the U.S. Department of Health because we are essentially running a lab. All of the results from our rapid test machine must be submitted to the Virginia Department of Health and become part of the state’s total COVID testing statistics.