SARS‐CoV‐2 Infections and Incidence at a North Carolina Pre‐Kindergarten‐12 School During In‐Person Education: August 2020 to January 2021

Abstract

BACKGROUND School closures were initially believed to mitigate SARS‐CoV‐2, but instead may have had a limited role in reducing community SARS‐CoV‐2 transmission. We describe a single school's experience with in‐person education during the COVID‐19 pandemic. METHODS From August 17, 2020 through January 23, 2021, we conducted a prospective study at a private pre‐kindergarten through 12th grade (PreK‐12) school in North Carolina. The school employed numerous SARS‐CoV‐2 mitigation measures, including mandatory masking and physical distancing without mandated laboratory screening tests. We analyzed de‐identified contact tracing data collected by the school. RESULTS Seventy‐five primary cases were reported among the 2110 students, faculty, and staff during the study period. Twenty‐one (28%) of the primary cases were on‐campus during their infectious periods; however, no classroom close‐contacts subsequently reported a positive SARS‐CoV‐2 test result. Two secondary cases likely resulted from unmasked exposure at a school athletic event. There was no correlation between community incidence and secondary transmission in the school. CONCLUSIONS Despite high rates of SARS‐CoV‐2 community incidence during the study period, routine mitigation practices including daily health screenings, mandatory face coverings, and efficient contact tracing contributed to minimal secondary SARS‐CoV‐2 transmission within an urban PreK‐12 school. The limited school‐associated transmission occurred when masks were not used during athletic events.

Characterisation of infection-induced SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence amongst children and adolescents in North Carolina

“…Partnering with district and state educational leadership and with public health officials in North Carolina, the ABC Science Collaborative examined the impact of re-opening schools on the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 amongst children and adolescents [ 35 ]. In a study of in-school contact tracing between August 2020 and July 2021 in a private pre-kindergarten through 12th grade school, Thakkar and colleagues found that despite high rates of community incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infections, in-school transmission was limited when multilayered mitigation measures were in place, including masking, health screenings, and contact tracing [ 36 ]. Similarly, an analysis of United States–based, cross-sectional internet survey data from the COVID-19 Symptom Survey paired with reported case rates found that while in-person schooling increases the relative risk of COVID-19, these risks are attenuated or disappear depending on the number of school-based mitigation measures reported [ 37 ].…”