Children are safe in schools: a review of the Irish experience of reopening schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Public Health
; 195: 158-160, 2021 Jun.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1270625
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
Schools in the Republic of Ireland reopened to students and staff in late August 2020. We sought to determine the test positivity rate of close contacts of cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in schools during the first half-term of the 2020/2021 academic year.METHODS:
National-level data from the schools' testing pathway were interrogated to determine the positivity rate of close contacts of cases of COVID-19 in Irish primary, postprimary and special schools during the first half-term of 2020/2021 academic year. The positivity rates among adult and child close contacts were compared and the proportion of national cases of COVID-19 who were aged 4-18 years during the observation period was calculated to assess whether this proportion increased after schools reopened.RESULTS:
Of all, 15,533 adult and child close contacts were tested for COVID-19 through the schools' testing pathway during the first half-term of the 2020/2021 academic year. Three hundred and ninety-nine close contacts tested positive, indicating a positivity rate of 2.6% (95% confidence interval 2.3-2.8%). The positivity rates of child and adult close contacts were similarly low (2.6% vs 2.7%, P = 0.7). The proportion of all national cases of COVID-19 who were aged 4-18 years did not increase during the first half-term of the 2020/2021 school year.CONCLUSIONS:
The low positivity rate of close contacts of cases of COVID-19 in schools indicate that transmission of COVID-19 in Irish schools during the first half-term of the 2020/2021 academic year was low. These findings support policies to keep schools open during the pandemic.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Students
/
Disease Outbreaks
/
Contact Tracing
/
Pandemics
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Adult
/
Child
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
Europa
Language:
English
Journal:
Public Health
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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