- Teachers spread the coronavirus to other staff and students in recent outbreaks in Georgia schools.
- Inadequate masking and distancing also contributed to transfer in the school.
- The combination of multiple prevention strategies is the best way to prevent an outbreak.
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A new study found that teachers are central to the transmission of COVID-19 in primary schools.
The findings suggest that the priority of school staff in the continuous vaccination of the vaccine may reduce the spread of the virus in schools, making safer reopening possible.
The investigation into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention took place in Cobb County, Georgia, where nine COVID-19 outbreaks occurred between six December 2020 and 22 January 2021 at six primary schools. The CDC has identified 32 student cases and 13 educator cases. the schools, and at least 18 household contacts of those infected, also tested positive.
At least two of the infection groups began spreading from educator to educator and continued when teachers exposed students to the virus, the report said. Teachers tested positive in all but one of the bunches.
“In all groups, educators have played an important role in the distribution of COVID-19 in schools,” Jasmine Reed, CDC Specialist in Public Affairs, said in an email to Insider. “Although COVID-19 was distributed from student to educator and from student to student, it happened less frequently.”
Teachers shared the virus during lunch and passed it on in class
Although the schools required students and staff to wear masks, some spread the coronavirus as they removed their face masks to eat lunch.
After the schools were observed, the investigators determined that the transfer between educators probably took place during personal meetings or lunches in at least two groups. The teachers could then have exposed students to the virus in the classroom.
This report resulted in half of the student and teacher affairs in the two schools concerned.
Inadequate masking and removal may also have led to infections
If the students had been properly masked and sat at a distance, the spread of the virus within the classroom could have been better curtailed.
But despite schools reporting high levels of mask compliance, CDC investigators learned in interviews that not all students wore their face masks correctly, and that some did not wear them at all.
In addition, students in this district usually sat less than three feet apart with plastic dividers between them. Due to the high turnout and classroom layout, it was no longer possible to remove six meters from each other, but experts told Insider that partitions alone are not enough to stop the spread of the smallest virus-laden droplets.
Students also ate lunch in these classrooms, so it is possible that a student-to-student transfer could have taken place during the unmasked period.
Several low precautions can help prevent outbreaks
Previous CDC investigations have found that it is possible to avoid and mitigate COVID-19 outbreaks with simple preventative measures.
Overnight camps in Maine have managed to stifle potential outbreaks by examining campers and counselors upon the arrival of summer. Although two staff members and one camper tested positive, the camps saw no secondary transfer and enjoyed an almost normal summer.
The camps combined several strategies, including early identification and isolation, quarantine, masking, physical distance, and cohorting of campers in small groups.
An equally multiple approach was also effective in child care settings, according to a study for Pediatrics published in December.
“It’s like a piece of Swiss cheese,” Laura Blaisdell, lead author of the Maine report, told Insider earlier. “Each layer has a limitation, and it’s putting the layers on top of each other that allows us to close the holes.”