THE TRANSMISSION of virus at school it is a rare event, even among the close contacts of positives al virus, when everyone: pupils, teachers, staff and visitors follow the mitigation measures of the infection, starting with the most well-known ones: masks, respect for safety distances, frequent hand washing and contact tracing.
It is the result of a pilot study carried out in 57 institutions in the state of Missouri, in the United States, which involved the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the school districts, among others. in the St. Louis and Springfield areas, and that is Morbidity and Mortality Weekl Report. A figure that comes from overseas but which is reassuring for us, at a time when the will to restart education in the presence is strong.
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Measures
The survey authors asked students, faculty, staff and visitors to wear masks on campuses and on school buses, to maintain safety distances and hand hygiene, to thoroughly clean facilities, to ensure physical distancing in classrooms, to carry out daily screening for symptoms of infection, to install physical barriers between teachers and pupils, to implement the possibility of accessing distance learning, and to keep the internal environments ventilated. For two weeks, in December last year, the schools involved, all primary and secondary, kept the researchers informed about the infections and precautionary isolations.
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Modified quarantines
In the St. Louis district institutes close contacts of successful students or teachers have been put in place quarantine, therefore had to stay at home for 14 days, while in Springfield a modified quarantine was applied: close contacts were able to stay in school on condition that they always use masks (a close contact, for the authors, is who has been to a distance of less than 180 centimeters, i.e. 6 feet, for more than 15 minutes with a positive).
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And give
In total, the study followed 193 people in 22 of the 57 schools, 37 of whom tested positive for covid19, and 156 of their close contacts. Of the COVID-19 positives, 24 (65%) were students, 13 (35%) were teachers or school staff members. Among the close contacts, 137 (88%) were students, 19 (12%) teachers or staff members. Of the 102 close contacts tested, only 2 tested positive. No outbreaks were identified.
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These data confirm that “schools can work safely in this pandemic period as long as prevention strategies are followed” was the conclusion of Jason Newland, professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington and co-author of the study. “And this – he added – happened at the height of the pandemic, with high rates of diffusion in the community”.
Researchers in the classroom
The research we speak of is part of a larger project of the CDC. Since mid-January, experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Washington University and Saint Louis University, and the health departments of the counties involved, have been participating in a larger study on covid-19 prevention strategies and quarantine policies.
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Researchers personally go to classrooms to measure the distances between desks, to assess the social spacing of 180 cm can be loosened in school settings, and are also conducting surveys of parents, teachers and school staff to assess the stress associated with quarantine. And in Springfield schools and are continuing to study modified quarantine policies.
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