COVID-19 outbreaks following full reopening of primary and secondary schools in England: Cross-sectional national surveillance, November 2020.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The full reopening of schools in September 2020 was associated with an increase in COVID-19 cases and outbreaks in educational settings across England.

Methods

Primary and secondary schools reporting an outbreak (≥2 laboratory-confirmed cases within 14 days) to Public Health England (PHE) between 31 August and 18 October 2020 were contacted in November 2020 to complete an online questionnaire.

Interpretation

There were 969 school outbreaks reported to PHE, comprising 2% (n = 450) of primary schools and 10% (n = 519) of secondary schools in England. Of the 369 geographically-representative schools contacted, 179 completed the questionnaire (100 primary schools, 79 secondary schools) and 2,314 cases were reported. Outbreaks were larger and acros

SUBMITTER: Aiano F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8276523 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature