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Observational Study
. 2021 Nov 16;2(11):100452.
doi: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2021.100452. Epub 2021 Oct 27.

Weekly SARS-CoV-2 screening of asymptomatic kindergarten to grade 12 students and staff helps inform strategies for safer in-person learning

Shira Doron  1 , Robin R Ingalls  2 , Anne Beauchamp  3 , Jesse S Boehm  4 , Helen W Boucher  1 , Linda H Chow  5 , Linda Corridan  3 , Katey Goehringer  6 , Doug Golenbock  7 , Liz Larsen  8 , David Lussier  3 , Marcia Testa  9 , Andrea Ciaranello  10
Affiliations
Observational Study

Weekly SARS-CoV-2 screening of asymptomatic kindergarten to grade 12 students and staff helps inform strategies for safer in-person learning

Shira Doron et al. Cell Rep Med. .

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission in K-12 schools was rare during in 2020-2021; few studies included Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-recommended screening of asymptomatic individuals. We conduct a prospective observational study of SARS-CoV-2 screening in a mid-sized suburban public school district to evaluate the incidence of asymptomatic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), document frequency of in-school transmission, and characterize barriers and facilitators to asymptomatic screening in schools. Staff and students undergo weekly pooled testing using home-collected saliva samples. Identification of >1 case in a school prompts investigation for in-school transmission and enhancement of safety strategies. With layered mitigation measures, in-school transmission even before student or staff vaccination is rare. Screening identifies a single cluster with in-school staff-to-staff transmission, informing decisions about in-person learning. The proportion of survey respondents self-reporting comfort with in-person learning before versus after implementation of screening increases. Costs exceed $260,000 for assays alone; staff and volunteers spend 135-145 h per week implementing screening.

Keywords: COVID-19; K-12 schools; SARS-CoV-2; asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 screening; in-school SARS-CoV-2 transmission; mitigation; prevention.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

None
Graphical abstract
Figure 1
Figure 1
Identification of SARS-CoV-2 through the screening program: SARS CoV-2 diagnoses during 18 weeks of in-person learning This figure depicts the number of confirmed SARS-CoV-2 diagnoses among members of the school community. The horizontal axis shows week number. The vertical axis shows number of confirmed diagnoses. The bars are broken down into categories: elementary students (blue); middle school students (orange); high school students (purple); and educators and staff (yellow).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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