Independent group tracking rapid test results in Toronto schools

Ontario is no longer collecting COVID-19 case numbers from schools and while cases are soaring provincewide, they are still likely under-reported because the province’s PCR testing system is overwhelmed due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.

Parents are left with no way of assessing the spread of COVID-19 in schools in order to make informed decisions for their families.

“The fact that we have this black hole out there in terms of what the infection rates are, I think is concerning,” said Tai Huynh, Editor-in-Chief of The Local.

The Local is a Toronto-based online magazine that is attempting to provide information about infection rates in schools by collecting test results from the Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) students were given to take home during the holiday break. The province does not collect this data on a mass scale and Huynh says it’s a missed opportunity to provide people with vital information.

“In Toronto, most school kids five to 11 [are partially vaccinated]. There’s only about 40 per cent vaccination right now,” said Huynh. “Those who are fully vaccinated — there’s only about four per cent. So they’re walking into a situation where I think [parents would] want to know what infection risks schools pose.”

The magazine launched its RAT Tracker portal on Jan. 1, where parents with children in Toronto’s 800 public elementary and high schools can anonymously submit test results from the kits they were given. Tests conducted any time over the winter break are acceptable.

The questionnaire does not collect any personal information and only asks for the age range of the student, when the test was conducted, the test result and the school the student attends.

Huynh added these RAT test results are a massive, untapped resource. While the province’s lab PCR testing system maxes out at about 80,000 tests per day, the 11 million rapid tests kits handed out to students would amount to a testing system 10 times the size of the PCR system on a per-day basis over the holiday break.

“And yet we have no information coming back [from these tests], so it’s a real shame. The more citizens that can voluntarily submit this data, the more information that we’ll have to make … personal decisions or policy decisions,” he said.

The RAT Tracker received over 2,000 submissions within 48 hours of launching and the goal is to collect at least 10,000. Statisticians will then analyze the numbers and publish them on The Local’s website in a useable format.

See test results submitted by postal code in the live map below:

“The larger the number, the more we can break down the numbers – hopefully by school,” said Huynh. “That would be ideal to know per school.”

If they do not receive enough submissions to provide numbers for individual schools, Huynh says they will be listed by postal code.

“At a minimum, we’ll have an understanding of what the infections are in the city [at the school] level,” he said.

Initially, the data was to be analyzed and published before schools were set to reopen on Jan. 5, but following the provincial announcement delaying the return to classrooms until at least Jan. 17, Huynh says there is still some time for people to submit.

“At the same time though, we’re working against the clock of people running out of rapid antigen tests, [likely] sometime this week because they were only given one box with five tests,” he explained. “This type of effort only can last so long as there’s tests out there.”

Huynh says they hope to publish their findings as early as next week.

“[People] can have a better understanding of the situation. I think a lot of people are anxious — parents are anxious, students are anxious, education workers are anxious,” he said. “So knowing is better than not knowing.”

Click here  to participate in the RAT Tracker.