ATLANTA – A new study found that teachers may be more important drivers of COVID-19 transmission in schools than students.
The document released Monday by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studies nine COVID-19 broadcast groups at primary schools in Atlanta’s Marietta suburb in December and January. This included a group where 16 teachers, students and relatives of students at home were infected.
In only one of the nine clusters, a student was clearly the first documented case, while a teacher was the first documented case in four clusters. In four others, the first case was not clear. Of the nine groups, eight involved probable teacher-student transmission. Two groups saw teachers infect each other during personal meetings or lunches, with a teacher infecting other students.
“Educators played an important role in dissemination,” CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told reporters at an online briefing on Monday. “The spread of COVID-19 often took place during personal meetings or lunches and later spread to the classrooms.
The findings are in line with studies in the United Kingdom which revealed that the most common type of school transmission was the type of teacher-to-teacher transmission, and a German study found that school transmission rates were three times higher when the first documented case was a teacher. In some American districts, schools have had to become completely virtual because many teachers have been exposed to the virus.
Other research suggested that there is low transmission of viruses in schools and that they should reopen for in-person instruction, a message that President Joe Biden’s government has been pushing for the past few weeks to achieve mixed success. The Marietta district, with 8,700 students, like almost everyone in Georgia, has been offering face-to-face classes since the fall. Superintendent Grant Rivera said more than 90 percent of elementary students returned in person, making some classrooms relatively crowded.
All of Marietta’s groupings also involved “less than ideal physical distance”, with students generally less than 3 feet away, although plastic dividers were placed on tables.
“The two main reasons for the spread of COVID-19 in these schools were inadequate physical distance and adherence to the mask,” said Walensky.
In seven cases, transmission may have occurred during instructional sessions in small groups, where teachers were close to students. Although the authors said they observed students wearing masks, the interviews found that students’ “inappropriate use of the mask” may have contributed to the spread of the infection in five groups.
The CDC again warned that schools need to follow “multi-faceted” strategies to prevent the spread of the virus, including reducing teacher-to-teacher meetings, ensuring masks are used correctly and increasing physical distance, especially during meals, when people can ‘Don’t wear masks.
Rivera said the school district overhauled instruction in elementary school classrooms, ensuring that students and teachers spent less than 15 minutes in small groups and that children were separated when they gathered on carpets to read or other activities.
Rivera said the district was using Fridays not for class time, but for teacher collaboration. The district is now encouraging teachers to remain separate.
“We told teachers that all teacher collaboration should take place virtually,” said Rivera.
He also said that chairs were removed from teachers’ workrooms, that copiers in some cases were moved elsewhere, and that teachers planning to eat with a colleague were told they should eat outdoors.
Student meals represent the biggest challenge, Rivera said.
“To be honest, I’m really struggling with that,” he said.
Students were kept in class to limit movement and keep them in isolated groups, but now classes are being encouraged to eat outdoors, with some especially full classrooms going to larger spaces such as cafeterias, gyms or auditoriums.
The Marietta district also continued extensive testing for viruses after the study ended, Rivera said.
The study also said that in addition to these strategies, it may be desirable to vaccinate teachers to protect educators, reduce transmission at school and keep schools running personally, although the CDC reaffirms that vaccinating teachers “is not a requirement for reopening schools . “
The president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, said the study “validates” the CDC guidelines.
“School buildings can be safe for teachers and children, but layered mitigation, testing and screening must be implemented to reduce the risk of transmission, with the vaccine available as another layer of protection,” said the union head. teachers in a statement.
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An earlier version of the story incorrectly spelled Dr. Rochelle Walensky’s surname.