The debate around #schoolsreopening during #Covid19 has been largely grounded in conjecture to this point - we're proud to contribute DATA to the discussion - a thread from our experiences testing an entire K-12 school population from August thru December.medrxiv.org/content/10.110…
2)Kids do contract+transmit #COVID19, but rates of illness when they are IN school are LOWER than when OUT of school. Suggests that children/communities may be at lower risk when in school -poss due to mitigation measures +controlled environment not possible when out of school
3) Reproductive rate (R-naught) within the school setting was <0.5
4) For the vast majority (91%) of #covid19 cases in school, there was NO spread to anyone else. When transmission did occur, it was almost always able to be traced back to a violation in protocol.
5) There was no evidence of transmission of #covid19 from students to teachers, nor were any teachers or staff or students hospitalized. For the majority of cases, the source was the community or family, and not from school.
6)Bottom line: With Mitigation protocols and testing strategy, in person school can be conducted safely. Universal surveillance testing is a key component of back-to-school protocols.
7) This was not an *easy* process - but is feasible - and worth the effort. To go forward, there are specific items that must be done by schools, + items that must be done via government/policy to be made successful. (click on our checklist for how below)drdarria.com/2021/01/22/sch…
8) TY to my amazing co-authors Dr. Jonathan Zenilman, Dr. Stephen Redd, Dr. Lauren Ancel Meyers ( @meyerslab ) and Dr. Michael Lachmann