Pilot Investigation of SARS-CoV-2 Secondary Transmission in Kindergarten Through Grade 12 Schools Implementing Mitigation Strategies — St. Louis County and City of Springfield, Missouri, December 2020

Details

• Journal Article:
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Personal Author:
  Dawson, Patrick ; Worrell, Mary Claire ; Malone, Sara ; Tinker, Sarah C. ; Fritz, Stephanie ; Maricque, Brett ; Junaidi, Sadaf ; Purnell, Gemille ; Lai, Albert M. ; Neidich, Julie A. ; Lee, Justin S. ; Orscheln, Rachel C. ; Charney, Rachel ; Rebmann, Terri ; Mooney, Jon ; Yoon, Nancy ; Petit, Machelle ; Schmidt, Spring ; Grabeel, Jean ; Neill, Lee Ann ; Barrios, Lisa C. ; Vallabhaneni, Snigdha ; Williams, Randall W. ; Goddard, Clay ; Newland, Jason G. ; Neatherlin, John C. ; Salzer, Johanna S. ; Tong, Suxiang ; Tao, Ying ; Emery, Brian ; Zhang, Jing ; Chen, Min-hsin ; Kim, Gimin ; Bankamp, Bettina
• Corporate Authors:
  CDC COVID-19 Surge Laboratory Group
• Description:
  Many kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) schools offering in-person learning have adopted strategies to limit the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the Virus that causes COVID-19 (1). These measures include mandating use of face masks, physical distancing in classrooms, increasing ventilation with outdoor air, identification of close contacts,* and following CDC isolation and quarantine guidance| (2). A 2-week pilot investigation was conducted to investigate occurrences of SARS-CoV-2 secondary Transmission in K-12 schools in the city of Springfield, Missouri, and in St. Louis County, Missouri, during December 7-18, 2020. Schools in both locations implemented COVID-19 mitigation strategies; however, Springfield implemented a modified quarantine policy permitting student close contacts aged ≤18 years who had school-associated contact with a person with COVID-19 and met masking requirements during their exposure to continue in-person learning.| Participating students, teachers, and staff members with COVID-19 (37) from 22 schools and their school-based close contacts (contacts) (156) were interviewed, and contacts were offered SARS-CoV-2 tTesting. Among 102 school-based contacts who received tTesting, two (2%) had positive test results indicating probable school-based SARS-CoV-2 secondary Transmission. Both contacts were in Springfield and did not meet criteria to participate in the modified quarantine. In Springfield, 42 student contacts were permitted to continue in-person learning under the modified quarantine; among the 30 who were interviewed, 21 were tested, and none received a positive test result. Despite high community Transmission, SARS-CoV-2 Transmission in schools implementing COVID-19 mitigation strategies was lower than that in the community. Until additional data are available, K-12 schools should continue implementing CDC-recommended mitigation measures (2) and follow CDC isolation and quarantine guidance to minimize secondary Transmission in schools offering in-person learning.
• Subjects:
  Adolescent Adult Child Child, Preschool Contact Tracing CoronaVirus Infections COVID-19 COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Testing Female Humans Male Masks Middle Aged Physical Distancing Pilot Projects Quarantine SARS-CoV-2 Schools Ventilation

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• Source:
  MMWR Morbidity Mortal Weekly Rep. 70(12):449-455
• Series:
  Weekly Report: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• ISSN:
  0149-2195 (print) ; 1545-861X (digital)
• Pubmed ID:
  33764961
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC7993558
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Missouri
• Pages in Document:
  7 pdf pages
• Volume:
  70
• Issue:
  12
• Collection(s):
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:023d20d5c4292f75c2234bc35a80de9bc85650f3d059b01e09fb86da4c652a1387a8d485350714fbf1ce400be95378090c914e5a91816e729bd93aa02a09d486
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/104806/cdc_104806_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 137.79 KB ]