An unvaccinated, sometimes unmasked, teacher in California infected half of the students in the class, which eventually spread to at least 26 more people, according to a study released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
What you need to know
- According to a study released Friday by the CDC, an unvaccinated, sometimes unmasked, teacher in California infected half of the students in the class, which eventually spread to at least 26 others.
- Health officials say the study is another test that schools should follow a multiple-pronged approach to keeping classrooms safe during the pandemic.
- Twenty-two of the 24 students in the class, who were too young to be eligible for vaccination, underwent COVID-19 testing, with 12 positive results.
- Shortly afterwards, six more students from another grade tested positive and there were eight additional cases between parents and siblings of students in both grades affected.
Health officials say the study is another test that schools should follow a multiple-pronged approach to keeping classrooms safe during the pandemic, including vaccinations for those who are eligible, mask requirements, routine testing and ventilation, as well as staying home when they experience symptoms.
“Schools should implement as many of these layers of prevention as possible simultaneously,” CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Friday. “And this serves to protect our children, even if there are inevitable breaches in any layer of protection.
“We know how to protect our children at school. We have the tools. “
According to the study, the teacher at an elementary school in Marin County, just north of San Francisco, began experiencing symptoms on May 19, but continued to work two more days before taking the test. During this time, the teacher occasionally read aloud to the class while not wearing a mask, despite the school’s requirements to wear facial covers inside.
As of May 23, other staff members, students, parents and siblings connected to the school also tested positive: 27 cases in total, including the teacher. Twenty-two of the cases were symptomatic.
Twenty-two of the 24 students in the class, who were too young to be eligible for vaccination, underwent COVID-19 testing, with 12 positive results. Eight of these 12 students sat in the front two rows, closer to the teacher.
Shortly afterwards, six more students from another grade (also too young to be vaccinated) tested positive. And there were eight additional cases between parents and siblings of students in both grades affected, three of whom were completely vaccinated.
Genome sequencing of the 18 available cases found to be infected presented the delta variant, which is more contagious than previous coronavirus strains. Samples of at least ten students from the two courses were not distinguished, suggesting that all cases were related in the classroom to the infected teacher, one of the two school staff members who should not have been vaccinated.
The outbreak occurred despite parents saying there was high class compliance with masking and spacing guidelines, that there were high-efficiency air filters in the classroom, and that doors and doors windows were left open.
The researchers said the actual number of infections may be even greater because the virus would have spread more to the community outside of school. Some other cases with similar genome sequences have been detected.
The study comes as students return to the classrooms and many parents and elected officials participate in a heated debate about the mandates of the masks.
The Department of Education’s Civil Rights Office announced Monday that it has launched an investigation in five states to determine whether statewide bans on mask warrants violate federal law by preventing students with disabilities from returning to school. face-to-face learning.
Walensky said CDC research generally finds that large-scale outbreaks and quarantines generally occur in schools that do not follow CDC guidelines, stating that everyone should wear masks and that those who meet the requirements should be vaccinated.
“I want to make a firm appeal to those districts that have not implemented prevention strategies and encourage them to do the right thing to protect the children in their care,” Walensky said. “We know these multilayer mitigation strategies work, and thanks to the American Rescue Plan, schools have the resources to implement these strategies.”