School and community reopening during the COVID-19 pandemic: a mathematical modelling study.

ABSTRACT: Operating schools safely during the COVID-19 pandemic requires a balance between health risks and the need for in-person learning. Using demographic and epidemiological data between 31 July and 23 November 2020 from Toronto, Canada, we developed a compartmental transmission model with age, household and setting structure to study the impact of schools reopening in September 2020. The model simulates transmission in the home, community and schools, accounting for differences in infectiousness between adults and children, and accounting for work-from-home and virtual learning. While we found a slight increase in infections among adults (2.2%) and children (4.5%) within the first eight weeks of school reopening, transmission in schools was not the key driver of the virus resurgence in autumn

SUBMITTER: Yuan P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8808096 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature