Sao Paulo has begun a mass Covid-19 testing program for public school employees and students, as Brazil’s largest city seeks to edge back to normalcy even as the country continues to report tens of thousands of additional coronavirus cases daily.

The city is planning to test some 777,000 people, including students and teachers, in three phases, a move officials hope will allow the megalopolis to restart in-person classes. In the first phase, 193,000 people will be tested.

In the first phase of the testing program, workers from some 468 public health clinics will fan out over the city to administer tests over the course of 15 days.

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