Characterising COVID-19 school and childcare outbreaks in Canada in 2021: a surveillance study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In January 2021, the Public Health Agency of Canada launched the Canadian COVID-19 Outbreak Surveillance System to monitor outbreaks by setting. Schools and childcare centres were identified as settings of interest, as children play a key role in the transmission chain of other respiratory illnesses. This paper describes outbreak trends observed in school and childcare settings from January to December 2021 when many public health measures were in place.

Methods

School and childcare outbreak data from five jurisdictions were included, representing 76% of the total Canadian population. Epidemiological curves were generated, trends in outbreak settings and cases' age distribution over time were examined and descriptive statistics on outbreak size were calculated.

SUBMITTER: Patterson K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11812758 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature