A student is seen on October 8, 2020, on the steps of the closed public school PS 139 in the Ditmas Park area of Brooklyn in New York, United States.
Michael Nagle | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images
School teachers and staff can play a ‘central role’ in the transmission of Covid-19 in schools where social distance is taken and the precautions for the face are not covered, and the vaccination against the disease can help keep students safe to the classroom return, according to a new federal study published Monday.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigated the spread of the coronavirus in eight public elementary schools in Georgia in the same school district between Dec. 1 and Jan. 22, which included 24 personal learning days. During this period, the average number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the country increased by almost 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 at six of the eight elementary schools.
The average group size – defined as three or more linked Covid-19 cases – was six people, and one educator was the “index patient,” or the first identified case, in four of those groups, the CDC found. One student was the first patient in one group, while the other four groups had an unidentifiable index patient.
All but one of the clusters involved ‘at least one educator and possible transfer from educator to student’, the study found.
“These findings suggest that educators may play an important role in school transfer and that transfer in school may occur when physical distance and mask compliance are not optimal,” the CDC researchers wrote in the study. .
In the study, the CDC researchers said they conducted interviews with parents, educators, and principals, and studied sitcoms, classroom layouts, physical distance, and adherence to recommended mask use during personal learning to determine case connections.
They found that all nine groups adhered to ‘less than ideal’ recommendations on social distance. Students sat less than 3 feet apart and in many cases, the spread of the virus among students could spread during small group sessions, according to the study.
The findings come just over a week after the CDC released new guidelines on how schools can safely reopen for personal learning, despite the spread of the virus. Among the many recommendations, the CDC advises districts to phase in their reopening plans in line with the severity of the outbreak in their areas.
It also says that schools should use ‘essential elements’ to re-learn for personal learning, including wearing masks, physical distance and monitoring the level of distribution in the surrounding community.
While the CDC advised states to prioritize teachers and staff ‘as soon as the offer allows’, the guidelines did not recommend reopening. However, the study, published Monday, suggested that vaccinating educators could be important in protecting the most dangerous risk, while reducing personal learning disruptions and preventing the spread of the virus in schools.
“Although not required for school reopening, COVID-19 vaccination should be considered as an additional mitigation measure that should be added if available,” researchers wrote.
Will Feuer of CNBC contributed to this report.