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According to the State Department of Health, low levels of COVID-19 transmission are observed in Washington state schools.
A new report details data on 84 outbreaks from August 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020 in K-12 schools in the state. The report includes public and private schools and all learning modalities. An outbreak is defined as two or more positive COVID-19 cases between students and staff with onset of symptoms over a 14-day period between them.
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During the nearly five months studied, 13 counties reported outbreaks associated with schools. In total, the 84 outbreaks included 305 COVID-19 cases. Of these cases, half were students 18 years of age or younger. The DOH says 64% of outbreaks involved two or three cases.
“Here’s some encouraging news,” Laura Newman, PhD, MHS, COVID-19 Senior Epidemiologist Response Outbreak Response said in a press release “We are seeing fairly low levels of COVID-19 transmission within school settings so far. Most outbreaks of COVID-19 in schools involve three or fewer cases, and school administrators, teachers, and staff are doing a good job of implementing preventative measures that limit the spread of COVID-19. ”
“Our goal is to help schools protect the health of their staff and students, the families they go to at home and the community at large. We are sharing this data so that educators, families, local public health and communities can see and learn from what is happening in schools regarding COVID-19, ”added Lacy Fehrenbach, MPH, COVID’s Deputy Secretary of Health. 19 Answer.
Of the 305 cases, 42% were non-Hispanic whites, 9% Hispanic, 4% others, and 45% unknown. Sixty-one percent were women. The age groups with the most cases were 5 to 9 years and 10 to 14 years, with 17% each. None of the cases were hospitalized overnight and no deaths were reported, according to the state study.
The study included all learning modes: face-to-face, hybrid, remote, remote with exceptions, and other / unknown. At the time of the outbreaks, 12% of schools taught in person, 22% used a hybrid instruction model, 6% used a remote learning model, 12% operated with a remote model with exceptions, and the 48% using another learning model or data from their method were not available. The DOH says exceptions include face-to-face learning for students with special learning needs.
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In the study, the county with the highest number of cases associated with schools was Spokane (151). Snohomish County accounted for 53 of the 305 cases and Clark County (24). King County had 20 of the 305 cases in total.
The State Department of Health plans to publish another report on outbreaks in schools in late February. This report is expected to include data from August 1, 2020 to January 31, 2021.