COVID Data Tracker Weekly Review: Interpretive Summary for September 3, 2021

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.)
• Description:
  Interpretive Summary for July 30, 2021
  
  Testing, Testing: School Edition
  
  illustration of hands of person putting a covid test swab into sample container 09-03-2021
  
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  A recent CDC study shows that the Delta variant can spread rapidly in schools when unvaccinated teachers and staff have close, indoor contact with unvaccinated children. While children have been less affected by COVID-19 compared with adults, they can get sick with COVID-19 and can spread it to others. A second CDC study shows that rates of COVID-19-associated hospitalizations in children and adolescents increased following the rise of the Delta variant in the United States. Prevention strategies, including vaccination of school staff and eligible students, universal indoor masking, staying home when sick, and routine testing, are critical to schools reopening and operating safely.
  
  Many people with COVID-19 don’t have symptoms but can still spread the virus. With regular testing, people can learn their COVID-19 status and use prevention measures before they spread the virus to others. This is especially important for children under 12 years old who are not yet eligible for vaccination. Finding out who has the virus early means that steps can be taken to prevent COVID-19 from spreading and causing an outbreak, which helps schools stay open. Regular testing also means parents or guardians get notified if their child tests positive, allowing them to plan for treatment and to quarantine or isolate as needed.
  
  Safely returning to in-person instruction this fall is a priority because students benefit from learning in the classroom. Vaccination is the leading public health prevention strategy to end the COVID-19 pandemic, but children under 12 years are not yet eligible for COVID-19 vaccination. To keep school communities safe and to maintain in-person instruction, CDC recommends schools layer multiple prevention strategies. These include universal indoor masking, physical distancing, hand washing, and vaccination for all eligible people. Regular testing, in addition to other important prevention measures, will help keep students in the classroom and will allow them to participate in the other activities they enjoy.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Communicable Disease Control Coronavirus Infections/prevention & Control COVID-19 COVID-19 Testing Local Government Pandemics Public Health Public Health Practice Schools
• Series:
  CDC COVID Data Tracker Weekly Review
• Document Type:
  Text
• Collection(s):
  Stephen B. Thacker CDC Library
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d3a06a28f012fd7e072580d01df69673f087954422cfceda734430c884bf54d9f64964360502fb502c35881872acaf2170ea2088f33c10da0890c750deeed630
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/109521/cdc_109521_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.55 MB ]