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. 2021 Apr;147(4):e2020048090.
doi: 10.1542/peds.2020-048090. Epub 2021 Jan 8.

Incidence and Secondary Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 Infections in Schools

Kanecia O Zimmerman  1   2   3 , Ibukunoluwa C Akinboyo  1   2 , M Alan Brookhart  4 , Angelique E Boutzoukas  1   2 , Kathleen A McGann  2 , Michael J Smith  2 , Gabriela Maradiaga Panayotti  2 , Sarah C Armstrong  1   2 , Helen Bristow  1 , Donna Parker  1 , Sabrina Zadrozny  5 , David J Weber  6 , Daniel K Benjamin Jr  7   2   3 ; ABC SCIENCE COLLABORATIVE
Affiliations

Incidence and Secondary Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 Infections in Schools

Kanecia O Zimmerman et al. Pediatrics. 2021 Apr.

Abstract

Background: In an effort to mitigate the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), North Carolina closed prekindergarten through grade 12 public schools to in-person instruction on March 14, 2020. On July 15, 2020, North Carolina's governor announced schools could open via remote learning or a hybrid model that combined in-person and remote instruction. In August 2020, 56 of 115 North Carolina school districts joined The ABC Science Collaborative (ABCs) to implement public health measures to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission and share lessons learned. We describe secondary transmission of SARS-CoV-2 within participating school districts during the first 9 weeks of in-person instruction in the 2020-2021 academic year.

Methods: From August 15, 2020 to October 23, 2020, 11 of 56 school districts participating in ABCs were open for in-person instruction for all 9 weeks of the first quarter and agreed to track incidence and secondary transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Local health department staff adjudicated secondary transmission. Superintendents met weekly with ABCs faculty to share lessons learned and develop prevention methods.

Results: Over 9 weeks, 11 participating school districts had >90 000 students and staff attend school in person. Among these students and staff, 773 community-acquired SARS-CoV-2 infections were documented by molecular testing. Through contact tracing, health department staff determined an additional 32 infections were acquired within schools. No instances of child-to-adult transmission of SARS-CoV-2 were reported within schools.

Conclusions: In the first 9 weeks of in-person instruction in North Carolina schools, we found extremely limited within-school secondary transmission of SARS-CoV-2, as determined by contact tracing.

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Conflict of interest statement

POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Formation of the districts: formation of the cohort of districts that shared data.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Rates of infection: rate of infection across North Carolina (solid line) and in the ABCs 11 districts (dashed line). Dots notate the rates of community-acquired infection within the schools.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Wilson E, Donovan CV, Campbell M, et al. . Multiple COVID-19 clusters on a university campus - North Carolina, August 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020;69(39):1416–1418 - PMC - PubMed
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    1. Public Schools of North Carolina. Lighting our way forward: North Carolina’s guidance on reopening K-12 public schools (summary). Available at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/11qO4_l_P2xUvI3iem0fRE2mRswajY22t/view. Accessed December 1, 2020
    1. North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. StrongSchoolsNC public health toolkit (K-12): interim guidance. 2020. Available at: https://files.nc.gov/covid/documents/guidance/Strong-Schools-NC-Public-H.... Accessed December 1, 2020
    1. The ABC Science Collaborative . About. Available at: https://abcsciencecollaborative.org/about/. Accessed February 26, 2021

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