Seven million students and school employees in California are taking free at-home COVID-19 tests to help prevent outbreaks at schools when they return from spring break.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced Saturday that the state has shipped or delivered more than 14.3 million antigen tests to counties and school districts, enough to test each person twice, as part of a massive push to limit infection and Avoid part of class closures.

The strategy is part of the state’s “endemic” approach to the coronavirus, emphasizing prevention and rapid response to outbreaks rather than mandatory mask wearing and business closures.

“California is focused on keeping schools open and students safe, and we won’t let our guard down,” Newsom said in a statement. “We know COVID-19 is still in our communities, but a smarter plan is to The way we keep people safe and continue to move the state forward,” he said, referring to the state’s acronym for a strategy that calls for shots, masks, awareness, preparation and testing.

The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020, and did not say the coronavirus had reached an epidemic stage, where the virus is still present in the community but becomes manageable as immunity builds.

California’s plan focuses on stockpiling masks and building infrastructure to provide vaccinations and testing in the event of an outbreak.

California ended its school mask mandate on March 12, almost two years after the state first closed schools in many areas to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The new guidelines strongly recommend wearing face coverings, rather than a school requirement, regardless of vaccination status. Local jurisdictions are free to impose their own requirements.