Predicine Labs, a local medical research company, will be offering free weekly COVID-19 testing at Palo Alto High School for students and staff.

The antigen tests were first introduced on Thursday as a result of a district-driven initiative to provide testing on campus. Roughly 80 students and staff members were tested on the first day, according to Lupe Fuentes, one of Predicine Labs’ medical staff administering tests on campus.

Though testing is free for both students and faculty, students’ families must complete a form to be tested. 

“Parents will fill out a form with [their child’s] insurance information, their own insurance information, and then the consent,” Fuentes said.

“I think it’s a really easy way to just, even if you’re vaccinated, to make sure you don’t have COVID.”

— Emma Joing, senior

The testing center will be set up on the Quad in between the Tower Building and the Haymarket Theater once a week from 9 a.m. until 30 minutes after dismissal. The tests are conducted by the Predicine Labs staff and a link to the results is supposed to be sent by text 24 to 48 hours after the test is conducted.

Senior Emma Joing was tested on Thursday and received her results within the 48 hour period after her test. Joing said she hopes other students will also take advantage of the free testing being offered.

“I think it’s a really easy way to just, even if you’re vaccinated, to make sure you don’t have COVID,” Joing said.

Palo Alto Unified School District Health Services Coordinator Rose Dowell says she anticipates testing will be offered weekly for the entirety of the school year.

“It was really just to offer as many testing opportunities to our students and staff as possible,” Dowell said. “Just so people could feel safe and comfortable coming back to school.”

Additional reporting by Sebastian Bonnard