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Experts stressed the importance of face-to-face learning for student development and access to essential services. On the other hand, rates of Covid-19 cases, hospitalization and death remain high across the country.
In an effort to strike the right balance, schools have adopted a variety of approaches that include in-person learning, online learning, and a hybrid of the two.
In an article published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, CDC researchers noted that the type of spread seen in crowded offices and long-term care facilities has not been reported in schools. Transmission at school has taken place, but researchers said there was little evidence that it significantly contributed to increased community transmission.
“Committing today to policies that prevent the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in communities and schools will help ensure the future social and academic well-being of all students and their education,” wrote the researchers in the JAMA document.
Two new CDC studies published Tuesday in the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report show that with the right precautions, children can return to school safely.
Triple layer face masks and no high contact sports
In the first study, researchers looked at data from 17 K-12 schools in rural Wood County, Wisconsin, which conducted in-person learning last fall. They found rates of Covid-19 cases lower than in the general community, and few cases of transmission at school.
Of 5,530 students and staff, 191 have tested positive for Covid-19. The researchers found that the rates of Covid-19 cases in schools were 37% lower than in the surrounding community.
Contact tracing and investigation determined that seven of those 191 cases – 3.7%, all among students – were acquired at school. Three of the seven students who tested positive were from an elementary school class.
Schools have not carried out systematic screening for Covid-19, but have implemented mitigation measures.
For example, the students each received three to five double- or triple-layered fabric masks. Masks were mandatory in schools, and statewide, more than 92% of students in all age groups wore them.
Cohorts of 11 to 20 students from the same grade level gathered for lessons and lunch indoors, where students were often seated next to the same person. The cohorts were asked not to mix and the researchers found no transmission at school between the different cohorts.
Staff were told to mask themselves, social distancing themselves, and limit time in shared interior spaces. If a student was out of school with symptoms of Covid-19, his siblings also had to stay home.
When a student or staff member tested positive for the virus, school officials used interviews to identify close contacts – anyone who was within 6 feet of the person for more than 15 minutes in 24 hours. Those close contacts were required to self-quarantine at home, and if they developed symptoms during that time, officials investigated whether the spread at school was the cause.
The team says their results suggest that even with varying levels of positivity in the community, students are not necessarily at a higher risk of contracting the virus if they attend classes in person. In fact, they claim that being in a monitored environment like the classroom can increase adherence to public health measures.
Extracurricular activities, such as indoor sports, may be a different story, according to a separate CDC report released on Tuesday.
Two high school wrestling matches in Florida became mainstream events in December when 54 of 130 participants – wrestlers, coaches and referees – tested for Covid-19 and 38 tested positive. Among 91 close contacts of infected people, 43% tested positive for the virus. A contact, over 50, has died.
It is not possible to maintain a physical distance in high contact sport, and the American Academy of Pediatrics advises against wearing a mask during wrestling as it presents a choking hazard.
After calculating the amount of time everyone involved had to quarantine and isolate, researchers estimated there were 1,700 in-person school days lost due to the outbreak – a number they likely would have been higher if the epidemic had not occurred so close to the end of the semester.
“Outbreaks in athletes participating in high contact sports can impact in-person learning for all students and increase the risk of secondary transmission in school and in the community with potentially serious consequences, including death, “the researchers wrote.
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