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. 2021 Jan;26(1):2002011.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.26.1.2002011.

Minimal transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from paediatric COVID-19 cases in primary schools, Norway, August to November 2020

Lin T Brandal  1   2 , Trine S Ofitserova  1 , Hinta Meijerink  1 , Rikard Rykkvin  1 , Hilde M Lund  1 , Olav Hungnes  1 , Margrethe Greve-Isdahl  1 , Karoline Bragstad  1 , Karin Nygård  1 , Brita A Winje  1
Affiliations

Minimal transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from paediatric COVID-19 cases in primary schools, Norway, August to November 2020

Lin T Brandal et al. Euro Surveill. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

An intense debate on school closures to control the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing in Europe. We prospectively examined transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from confirmed paediatric cases in Norwegian primary schools between August and November 2020. All in-school contacts were systematically tested twice during their quarantine period. With preventive measures implemented in schools, we found minimal child-to-child (0.9%, 2/234) and child-to-adult (1.7%, 1/58) transmission, supporting that under 14 year olds are not the drivers of SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; children 5–13 years; school; school-related contacts; transmission.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases by date of sampling and age, Oslo and Viken counties, Norway, 28 August–11 November 2020 (n = 9,416)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Overview of included COVID-19 contact tracings in schools, Oslo and Viken counties, Norway, 28 August–11 November 2020 (n = 13)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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