Duke Clinical Research Institute and.
Departments of Pediatrics and.
Pediatrics. 2021 Apr;147(4). doi: 10.1542/peds.2020-048090. Epub 2021 Jan 8.
In an effort to mitigate the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), North Carolina closed prekindergarten through grade 12 public schools to in-person instruction on March 14, 2020. On July 15, 2020, North Carolina's governor announced schools could open via remote learning or a hybrid model that combined in-person and remote instruction. In August 2020, 56 of 115 North Carolina school districts joined The ABC Science Collaborative (ABCs) to implement public health measures to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission and share lessons learned. We describe secondary transmission of SARS-CoV-2 within participating school districts during the first 9 weeks of in-person instruction in the 2020-2021 academic year.
From August 15, 2020 to October 23, 2020, 11 of 56 school districts participating in ABCs were open for in-person instruction for all 9 weeks of the first quarter and agreed to track incidence and secondary transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Local health department staff adjudicated secondary transmission. Superintendents met weekly with ABCs faculty to share lessons learned and develop prevention methods.
Over 9 weeks, 11 participating school districts had >90 000 students and staff attend school in person. Among these students and staff, 773 community-acquired SARS-CoV-2 infections were documented by molecular testing. Through contact tracing, health department staff determined an additional 32 infections were acquired within schools. No instances of child-to-adult transmission of SARS-CoV-2 were reported within schools.
In the first 9 weeks of in-person instruction in North Carolina schools, we found extremely limited within-school secondary transmission of SARS-CoV-2, as determined by contact tracing.
为了遏制严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2 型（SARS-CoV-2）的传播，北卡罗来纳州于 2020 年 3 月 14 日关闭了从学前班到 12 年级的公立学校，停止面授教学。2020 年 7 月 15 日，北卡罗来纳州州长宣布学校可以通过远程学习或混合模式（即面对面教学和远程教学相结合）开学。2020 年 8 月，北卡罗来纳州 115 个学区中有 56 个加入了 ABC 科学合作组织（ABCs），以实施公共卫生措施来防止 SARS-CoV-2 传播并分享经验教训。我们描述了 2020-2021 学年第一学期面授教学的前 9 周期间参与学区内 SARS-CoV-2 的二次传播情况。
从 2020 年 8 月 15 日至 10 月 23 日，ABCs 参与的 11 个学区全部开放，面授教学持续整个第一季度的 9 周，并同意追踪 SARS-CoV-2 的发病率和二次传播。当地卫生部门工作人员对二次传播进行裁决。校长每周与 ABCs 教师举行会议，分享经验教训并制定预防方法。
在 9 周时间内，11 个参与学区有超过 90000 名学生和教职员工在校。在这些学生和教职员工中，通过分子检测记录了 773 例社区获得性 SARS-CoV-2 感染。通过接触者追踪，卫生部门工作人员确定了另外 32 例感染是在学校内获得的。没有报告学校内儿童向成人传播 SARS-CoV-2 的情况。
在北卡罗来纳州学校的头 9 周面授教学中，通过接触者追踪，我们发现 SARS-CoV-2 的校内二次传播极其有限。
