A student is seen on the stairs of PS 139 Public School in the Ditmas Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, USA, on October 8, 2020.
Michael Nagle | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images
Teachers and school staff can play a “central role” in the transmission of Covid-19 within schools where precautions for social distancing and face coverage are not followed, and vaccination against the disease. could help bring students back to the classroom safely, according to a new federal study released Monday.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigated the spread of coronavirus in eight public elementary schools in Georgia, in the same school district, between Dec. 1 and Jan. 22, which included 24 days of face-to-face learning. During this period, the average number of cases per 100,000 residents in the county increased by about 300%, according to the study.
The federal health agency, along with state and local public health departments, found nine Covid-19 “clusters” involving 13 educators and 32 students in six of the eight elementary schools.
The mean cluster size (defined as three or more linked Covid-19 cases) was six people, and one educator was the “index patient,” or the first case identified, in four of these clusters, found the CDC. One student was the first patient in one cluster, while the other four clusters had an unidentifiable index patient.
The study found that all but one cluster involved “at least one educator and a probable transmission from educator to student.”
“These findings suggest that educators may play an important role in school transmission and that school transmission may occur when physical distancing and mask compliance are not optimal,” the CDC researchers wrote in the study. .
In the study, CDC researchers said they conducted interviews with parents, educators, and school principals and studied living tables, classroom design, physical distancing, and compliance use. recommended masks during face-to-face learning to determine case links.
They found that the nine clusters involved “less than ideal” adherence to social distancing recommendations. Students were less than 3 feet away and in many cases the spread of the virus among students could have spread during small group sessions, according to the study.
The findings come just over a week after the CDC unveiled new guidelines on how schools can safely reopen face-to-face learning despite the spread of the virus. Among the many recommendations, the CDC advises districts to make progressive their reopening plans according to the severity of the outbreak in their areas.
He also says schools should adopt “essential elements” to resume face-to-face learning, including masks, physical distancing, and control of the level of spread in the surrounding community.
Although the CDC advised states to prioritize the vaccination of teachers and staff “as soon as supply allows,” the guide did not recommend it to reopen. The study released Monday, however, suggested that vaccinating educators could be important in protecting those most at risk while reducing interruptions in face-to-face learning and preventing the spread of the virus in schools.
“While not required for school reopening, vaccination against COVID-19 should be considered as an additional mitigation measure that needs to be added when available,” the researchers wrote.
– CNBC’s Will Feuer contributed to this report.