According to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an unvaccinated elementary school teacher in California who was diagnosed with COVID-19 infected half of the students in his classroom and caused an outbreak throughout the community.
The teacher showed up to work while he was symptomatic and continued teaching for two days before receiving a test. He reported nasal congestion and fatigue, but attributed the symptoms to allergies.
The school required teachers and students to disguise themselves inside, but it was reported that the teacher unmasked himself when he read aloud in class.
“This outbreak of COVID-19 that originated with an unvaccinated teacher highlights the importance of vaccinating school staff members who are in close inner contact with children not eligible for vaccination as schools reopen, ”the report concludes.
In addition to two teachers, one of whom was the index patient, all school staff members were vaccinated.
California has since set a requirement for all public school teachers to be vaccinated or tested weekly, but the report also shows the shortcomings of the testing requirement.
The teacher became symptomatic on May 19 and received a positive test on May 21. But the virus had already spread to students, who began showing symptoms on May 22nd.
Twelve of the teacher’s 22 students subsequently received a positive test result, including eight out of 10 in the front two rows.
The report also found a separate outbreak at the same school, among unvaccinated students in a different grade. According to the CDC, six students tested positive. The researchers found that a student organized a night of sleep on May 21 with two classmates of the same grade. These three students experienced symptoms after sleep and tested positive.
Outbreaks in the separate grades were likely related, the CDC said.
Cases were then identified in four different students of different degrees. These four students were brothers of students infected by the teacher without masking and the exposure was supposed to have taken place in their respective homes.
In addition to the teacher and 22 infected students, four parents of students were infected with cases, for a total of 27 cases. Among the five infected adults, one parent and the teacher were not vaccinated; the others were fully vaccinated.
Aside from the masks, all the desks were six feet apart. All classrooms had portable, high-efficiency particulate air filters and doors and windows were left open.
Director of the CDC Rochelle Walensky
Rochelle Walensky: Walensky says “now is the time” to fight gun violence: CDC reports: unvaccinated and unmasked teacher caused an outbreak in primary school Overnight care: Biden received a inconclusive intellectual report on the origin of COVID-19 MORE he said the lesson should be that schools can be safe as long as multiple layers of mitigation are followed.
“The introduction of the virus into the classroom by a teacher who worked at school while she was symptomatic and unvaccinated and who unmasked herself when she read aloud in a classroom led to cases in the classroom, throughout the school and between families of students and community staff, ”Walensky said during a press conference.
“We know how to protect our children in school. We have the tools.”
Until children under the age of 12 can be vaccinated, the CDC says the best way to keep them safe in schools is to use all available tools, including physical distancing, masks, ventilation, and vaccines for all. the others who are eligible.