Important update: Healthcare facilities
CDC has updated select ways to operate healthcare systems effectively in response to COVID-19 vaccination. Learn more
UPDATE
Given new evidence on the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant, CDC has updated the guidance for fully vaccinated people. CDC recommends universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status. Children should return to full-time in-person learning in the fall with layered prevention strategies in place.
UPDATE
The White House announced that vaccines will be required for international travelers coming into the United States, with an effective date of November 8, 2021. For purposes of entry into the United States, vaccines accepted will include FDA approved or authorized and WHO Emergency Use Listing vaccines. More information is available here.
UPDATE
Travel requirements to enter the United States are changing, starting November 8, 2021. More information is available here.

Operation Expanded Testing

Operation Expanded Testing
Updated July 27, 2022

CDC is reviewing this page to align with updated guidance.

In addition to COVID-19 vaccination, physical distancing, and masking, testing is a safe and effective way to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Operation Expanded Testing (OpET) program increases access to testing nationwide, especially for communities that have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

OpET coordinates with contractor-operator hubs to provide no-cost screening testing to K-12 schools, early care and education (ECE) programs, youth camps, historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), under-resourced communities, and congregate settings, such as homeless shelters, domestic violence and abuse shelters, non-federal correctional facilities, and other qualified sites. Screening testing tests asymptomatic persons without recent known or suspected exposure to SARS-CoV-2 for early identification, isolation, and disease prevention. OpET uses pooled testing in some regions to reduce the amount of time required to test large numbers of specimens, allowing for rapid identification of SARS-CoV-2 spread in the community. Pools testing positive will be automatically retested using RT-PCR tests on individual specimens to determine individual positives.

OpET regional coordination hubs provide laboratory-based Nucleic Acid Amplification Tests (NAAT), such as RT-PCR, with specimen collection supplies, shipping materials, laboratory testing, and results reporting. The recipient sites contribute staff to collect specimens; OpET sites that lack the capacity to support specimen collection and reporting can use federal funds to pay for staffing costs to administer testing and to collect and report testing data. CDC’s Operation Expanded Testing (OpET) will be performing tests through December 31, 2022.

Enroll Your Facility into Operation Expanded Testing Today

To enroll your facility into OpET’s no-cost screening testing program, follow these steps.

  1. Identify your facility’s region and coordination hub.
  2. Visit your regional coordination hub’s website.
    1. Hub 1 – West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Marshall Islands, Nevada, Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon, Palau, and Washington
    2. Hub 2 – Midwest: Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming
    3. Hub 3 – Northeast: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont, Virginia, Washington D.C., and West Virginia
    4. Hub 4 – South: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas
  3. Enroll your school, childcare center, shelter, or other congregate setting.

Questions

OpET Success Stories