Assessing School-Based COVID-19 Transmission in Middle and High Schools in an Underserved Population through Qualitative Interviews

Background. Case and contact investigation is a mitigation strategy to understand transmission of diseases. The goal of this study is to assess COVID-19 transmission in schools that employ contact tracing. Methods. Five middle and high schools provided a list of ongoing student and staff cases and their school contacts for the 2021-22 school year. Cases were eligible for interview if they had a known positive test or were a 'presumed positive' by a practitioner. Contacts were eligible if they were identified as a close contact to a case within their school. Contacts who later became a case were eligible for a separate case interview. Trained interviewers contacted eligible individuals to offer COVID-19 resources and determine interests in participating in the study. Interested cases and contacts underwent a semi-structured interview with standardized questions. Results. From 5/2021-4/2022, 360 cases (45% during Omicron surge) and their 412 contacts were identified (Fig 1).Among the 111 cases interviewed, 75% were students, half were in grades 6-8 (Fig 2). 61% of the cases were vaccinated with their primary series. 92% were symptomatic and fatigue, cough, and headaches were the most common symptoms. Transmission from school occurred in 29% (Fig 3) and most commonly occurred in the classroom. Among the 68 contacts interviewed, 96% were students. The two most reported activities contacts participated in were band (n=9) and sports (n=22), 10 from playing basketball. Three contacts reported exposure to COVID-19 within the household and five contacts reported exposure outside the home or school. Conclusion. Case and contact investigation can be a valuable tool to assess COVID-19 transmission in schools. Almost one-third of cases reported school exposures, a greater school transmission rate than previous reported likely do to the increased transmissibility of Omicron. Assessing transmission events with this strategy alone may be limited by its reliance on self-reports. Case investigations can help schools identify potential areas to improve in limiting school-based COVID-19 transmission.

Preventing soft skill decay among early-career women in STEM during COVID-19: Evidence from a longitudinal intervention.

As the workforce shifts to being predominantly hybrid and remote, how can companies help employees-particularly early-career women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields-develop greater confidence in their soft skills, shown to improve organizational retention? We evaluate the effects of an online longitudinal intervention to develop soft skills among early-career women employees at a North American biotechnology company during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Controlling for baseline levels collected immediately prior to nationwide lockdowns, we find that a 6-month online intervention increased early-career women's assessments of their soft skills at work by an average of 9% (P < 0.001), compared with a decrease of about 3.5% for a matched control group (P < 0.05), resulting in an average treatment effect of nearly 13% on the treated group. Furthermore, we find evidence that the intervention led to an increase in manager-assessed performance for early-career women relative to employees not in the intervention, and that overall, increased self-assessments of soft skill competencies were associated with greater odds of retention. Results show how employee soft skill development was affected by the pandemic and provide insights for a feasible and cost-effective method to train and engage a hybrid or fully remote workforce.

Progress toward a VUV Raman spectrometer to detect pathogens

Rapid detection and identification of novel viruses, such as SARS-CoV-2, is critical to treat, isolate, or hospitalize those infected, ultimately, to curb the spread of the virus. Diagnostic assays, such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR), are considered the gold standard for testing, but are labor-intensive and/or involve creating probe molecules specific to the virus. We propose Raman spectroscopy as an alternative method of detection because it can be label-free and can offer identifying information on many analytes within a sample. Specifically, we are developing a vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) Raman spectrometer using an incoherent excitation source that emits the hydrogen Lyman-α line radiation at 121.57 nm. The main benefit of using a VUV source is that the Raman scattering cross-section is inversely proportional to the fourth power of wavelength, which means that VUV photons would yield several orders of magnitude higher scattering cross-sections than excitation in the visible or near-infrared. In addition, the 121.57 nm wavelength transmits up to 2 cm in dry air, so the analyte can be oriented in standard testing formats. We have been successful in producing strong and consistent HLA emission using both a dielectric-barrier discharge (DBD) plasma source and a commercial source. In the near future, we expect to produce consistent Raman signatures in solid and liquid media. HLAS will transform diagnostic medicine and several other industries through its powerful capabilities of detecting real-time infections and important health markers. © 2021 SPIE.

Virtual Multiple Mini-Interviews for Veterinary Admissions.

Admissions teams are challenged to select the best applicants for their college. There is a growing emphasis on selecting applicants with personal attributes important for success in a variety of veterinary careers, but there is no clear consensus on how to best identify these individuals. A number of veterinary colleges are utilizing multiple mini-interviews (MMIs), a highly structured type of interview in this selection process. However, due to travel restrictions currently associated with COVID-19, many are now considering virtual MMIs. Long Island University (LIU) took the step to conduct MMIs virtually for its inaugural class before the pandemic restrictions occurred, largely because it hoped to reduce the cost of admission by eliminating travel costs. In this process, we encountered a unique set of challenges, the resolution of which we believe constitutes best practices for virtual MMIs. This report describes the design and execution of an MMI for LIU. We were able to interview 340 applicants in 7 days. Based on feedback from applicants as well as raters, most considered it an acceptable means of interviewing students. Both raters and applicants expressed a high degree of satisfaction with the process, and we were able to separate applicants based on MMI scores with 88% reliability.

Chasing the curve: Program description of the Geisinger primary care behavioral health virtual first response to COVID-19

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, an initiative to rapidly transition to a telebehavioral health (TBH) service delivery model was developed to maintain access to primary care behavioral health (PCBH) services at Geisinger, a predominantly rural health system based in Central Pennsylvania. In line with the "Virtual First" approach employed by Geisinger's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, we describe how we transitioned to TBH services while facilitating communication and collaboration among PCBH providers, staff, and trainees, and supported our Geisinger colleagues during the initial months of the pandemic. We report outcomes of our Virtual First approach from March 2020 through June 2020, as well as provider surveys of acceptability and usability of the InTouch platform used for TBH. We found that we were able to attain or surpass comparable patient access and utilization by implementing TBH services compared with in-person services over the last 2 years while maintaining a training program. InTouch was found to be acceptable and usable overall based on provider ratings, although it does not include capabilities that would further enhance access such as group treatments or shared office visits with the BHP and primary care clinician. Our Virtual First approach enabled us to maintain access and utilization of PCBH services during a time of widespread uncertainty and behavioral health vulnerability in rural regions. We conclude with a discussion of the limitations of our approach and the next steps in navigating the "new normal" of behavioral healthcare in the age of COVID-19. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved) Impact Statement <strong xmlns:lang="en">Public Health Significance Statement-This program description serves as a salient case example of successfully navigating the rapid transition to TBH services necessitated by the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Planning and co-ordination of communication and task work among team members and an existing TBH platform capable of rapid scaling enabled rural access and utilization of PCBH services at Geisinger at comparable levels to the previous 2 years. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)