A student is seen on the stairs of the closed public school PS 139 in the Ditmas Park neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York, United States, October 8, 2020.
Michael Nagle | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images
School teachers and staff can play a “central role” in the transmission of Covid-19 in schools where social distance and face-covering precautions are not followed, and vaccinating them against the disease can help return students to classrooms safely, according to a new federal study report published Monday.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigated the spread of coronavirus in eight public primary schools in Georgia in the same school district between December 1 and January 22, which included 24 days of face-to-face learning. During this period, the average number of cases per 100,000 residents in the county increased by almost 300%, the study said.
The federal health agency, along with state and local public health departments, found nine Covid-19 “clusters” involving 13 educators and 32 students in six of the eight primary schools.
The average cluster size – defined as three or more linked Covid-19 cases – was six people, and an educator was the “index patient”, or the first case identified, in four of these clusters, the CDC found. One student was the first patient in a cluster, while the other four clusters had an unidentifiable index patient.
All groups, except one, involved “at least one educator and likely transmission from educator to student,” the study concluded.
“These findings suggest that educators may play an important role in transmission at school and that transmission at school may occur when physical distance and mask compliance are not ideal,” wrote the CDC researchers in the study.
In the study, CDC researchers said they conducted interviews with parents, educators and school principals and studied seating tables, classroom layouts, physical distance and compliance with recommended mask use during in-person learning to determine connections of the cases.
They found that all nine groups involved “suboptimal” adherence to recommendations for social distance. The students sat less than a meter apart and, in many cases, the spread of the virus among students may have spread during small group sessions, according to the study.
The findings were made just a week after the CDC revealed new guidance on how schools can safely reopen for face-to-face learning, despite the spread of the virus. Among the many recommendations, the CDC advises districts to gradually implement their reopening plans according to the severity of the outbreak in their areas.
It also states that schools should adopt “essential elements” in resuming face-to-face learning, including wearing masks, physical distance and monitoring the level of dissemination in the surrounding community.
Although the CDC advised states to prioritize vaccinating teachers and staff “as soon as supplies allow,” the guidance did not recommend reopening. The study published on Monday, however, suggests that vaccinating educators may be important in protecting those most at risk, while reducing disruptions in personal learning and potentially preventing the spread of the virus in schools.
“Although not necessary for the reopening of schools, the vaccination COVID-19 should be considered as an additional mitigation measure to be added when available,” wrote the researchers.
– CNBC’s Will Feuer contributed to this report.