SALT LAKE CITY – Research conducted by the University of Utah at 20 primary schools in the Granite District and a private school provides “one of the strongest evidence so far” that COVID-19 transmission in primary schools has been very low, said the researcher on Friday.
“Face-to-face teaching can be done safely with preventive measures strictly applied at various levels. This really imposes and reinforces the governor’s recommendation to continue masking in all schools in Utah, at least until the end of the school year, and provides the assurance that we know how to make schools safe, “said Dr. Adam Hersh, a specialist in pediatric infectious diseases and the study’s lead investigator.
The findings of the Utah Health and Economic Recovery Project (HERO) study, a collaboration between the University of Utah Health and the David Eccles School of Business discussed at a news conference on Friday, helped inform the orientation of the new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention With regard to universal masking, students must maintain a distance of at least 3 feet in the classroom settings.
The new guidelines still require 6 feet of distance between adults and students, as well as in common areas and when masks are removed during meals.
In elementary and high schools, the CDC recommends that students stay at least 3 feet away in classrooms where everyone is masked and the risk to the community is low, moderate or substantial. High school students should be at least 6 feet away in communities where the risk of COVID-19 is high, unless they can meet in small groups.
CDC director Rochelle P. Walensky, during a meeting at the White House on Friday, said that safe and personal instruction gives children access to the essential educational, social and mental health services they need to succeed.
Recent research says that “K-12 schools that implement strong, layered prevention strategies can operate safely while protecting teachers, staff and students. We have seen data that demonstrates that this is safe, even in areas of high community dissemination” said Walensky.
In Beehive State, where 1 in 5 Utahns is a school-age child, the 6-foot social distance recommendations pose challenges for educators. In some respects, Utah’s unique characteristics provided researchers with a glimpse of social detachment when it was not possible to accurately meet the 6-foot recommendation and the importance of other layers of mitigation.
“This proves that the fact that the protocols we are using and the use of the mask that is being followed has been quite effective,” said Granite School District communications director Ben Horsley. He explained that some schools studied had classes above the national average, while others were closer to the national average because some students in these schools opted for virtual learning.
“Obviously, there were limitations (for recommendations of 6-foot social distance) from the start.”
Dr. Andrew Pavia, head of the pediatric infectious diseases division at the University of Utah, said the conditions in Utah’s classrooms probably meant that “our teachers in our schools really worked hard to ensure safety. There may have been a benefit. paradoxical in knowing that they faced a greater challenge. They did an even better job. “
Among 21 primary schools, the researchers found five secondary cases of COVID-19 that were likely due to the school’s exposure to a secondary attack rate of 0.7%, or seven per 1,000 contacts, said Hersh.
“In 4 out of 5 of these cases, there were obvious flaws in prevention strategies, including the incorrect use of the mask, which helped us to understand why the transmission could have occurred in these cases,” said Hersh.
“We also found that in most cases where the infection was presumed to have originated at school, there was secondary transmission back to their homes, which reinforces the importance of limiting the spread within the school,” he added.
In three circumstances, the researchers conducted genetic sequencing to determine whether the infections were associated with the school or the community.
“Genetic testing of viruses was limited, but extremely judicious,” said Hersh.
“In all three cases, it was evident that the viruses were of a completely different lineage, which told us that the second case we detected was not related to the first case and came from elsewhere outside of school,” he said.
A CDC statement said in part that the Utah study was one of many across the country that “affirmed the CDC’s recommendations that schools should return to face-to-face learning and that this can be done safely for the protection of students and teachers in communities. “
Since face-to-face learning resumed in Utah schools last fall, transmission rates for COVID-19 have been higher in high schools and elementary schools than in elementary schools, but typically lower in schools than in communities.
“Given the size of Utah classes, it was always a challenge to maintain 6 feet. However, our educators did everything possible to create a safe space. These efforts allowed us to start and hopefully end the school year in person,” State Superintendent Public Instruction Sydnee Dickson said on Friday.
Larry Madden, interim superintendent for the Salt Lake City School District, said the CDC’s new guidance on how to securely move students away was timely as the district prepares to welcome high school students to face-to-face learning four days a week. starting on Monday.
“We will continue to closely follow the safety guidelines we have received and will leave additional measures, such as plexiglass barriers, in place. We are committed to doing everything we can to protect our students and staff.”
Madden continued, “We are grateful for the many experts in health and epidemiology, including the Salt Lake County Department of Health, working to help keep our schools and communities safe. Our experience of working with the HERO Project in our three schools of education medium has been incredibly positive and we appreciate the additional support to help us keep the COVID-19 broadcast under control in our schools. “
According to the CDC, the evidence suggests that “many K-12 schools that have strictly implemented prevention strategies have been able to safely open for face-to-face instruction and remain open.”
The agency’s operational strategy presents “a way for schools to provide face-to-face education with security”, which includes “universal and correct use of masks and physical distance”.
The test remains an important strategy to identify people with COVID-19 infections. Vaccination of teachers and staff provides additional layers of protection, according to the agency.
The new recommendations come at a time when the state of Utah appears to be moving towards lifting a state mask mandate on April 10, as mandated by HB294, recently approved by state lawmakers.
The project states that the mandatory mask will continue for meetings of 50 people or more and in schools. It also does not prevent companies from requiring masks.
The bill has not yet been signed by Governor Spencer Cox.
Meanwhile, the president of the National Education Association, Becky Pringle, expressed concern “that the CDC has changed one of the basic rules on how to ensure the safety of the school, without demonstrating certainty that the change is justified by science and can be implemented in a in a way that does not jeopardize the greatest long-term needs of students. “
NEA welcomes the drive to provide testing, vaccination and sufficient funding for mitigation measures.
“We are very close to being able to ensure that all of our schools are much safer. But, as public health officials rightly warned, in the face of new variants and the race to make vaccines widely available, this is not the time to download the guard, “Pringle said in a statement.
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Marjorie Cortez