Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in School Settings November 11, 2020
CoronavirusDisease2019(COVID-19)inSchoolSettings
November11,2020
RespondingtoCOVID-19Cases
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OutbreakTrendsinSchoolSettings• 84outbreaksinK-12schoolshavebeenreportedsinceAugust• Totalof357confirmedcasesreportedfrom40counties
• Range2-24casesperoutbreak• Median4cases• 158(44%)studentsand199(56%)staff
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ConfirmedOutbreaksinSchoolSettingsbyMonth,N=84
5
25
37
17
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
August September October November
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SchoolSettingOutbreakTrends• 31(37%)outbreaksoccurredinstaffonly
• Resultofin-personmeetings,congregatinginbreakrooms,closecontactamongteachersespeciallythosewhoco-teach
• 17(20%)outbreaksoccurredamongsportsteams• Football(8),Volleyball(5),Other(4)
• 19(23%)outbreakswerearesultofstudentsorstaffbecominginfectedthroughclosecontactwithacaseorbeingassociatedwithanoutbreakinthecommunity
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TransmissioninEducationalSetting• 14(17%)outbreakshaveoccurredintheeducationalsetting• 4outbreaksinspecialeducationsettingswhereclose
contactismorecommon• 5outbreaksresultedinonlyasinglestudentandteacher
developingillness• 2outbreaksoccurredinmusicorhealthsettingswherethe
classroomactivitieslikelyincreasedriskfortransmission• 3outbreaksoccurredineducationalsettingswherethere
weremultipleteachersintheclassroomwhowerepositiveincreasingthelikelihoodofexposure
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BestPractices• Clothfacecoveringsareoneofthebestpreventativemeasures
toreducetransmission• Reinforcesocialdistancinginsettingsbothinsideandoutside
theclassroom• Limitopportunitiesforexposureamongstaffbyreducingface-
to-facecontact• Breakrooms,in-personmeetings,congregatingforlunch,
socialgatherings,visitingotherclassrooms• Beselfawarethatactionstakenoutsideoftheclassroomhave
adirectimpactonthehealthandsafetyofstudentsinsidetheclassroom
• Cohorting studentslimitstransmission– haveassignedseating• Promotesocialdistancingandeliminatelargegatherings
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Conclusion• Todate,wehaveseenlimitedtransmissioninschoolsinWest
Virginia• Greatestriskfortransmissionappearstobeamongolder
children,aged12-17years• Schoolsandlocalhealthdepartmentshaveworkeddiligentlyto
implementprotectivemeasurestoreducetransmissionintheschoolsetting
• Asweseeincreasedcommunitytransmission,itiscrucialthatschoolscontinuetolayerpreventionstrategiestoreduceCOVID-19diseaseriskforstudents,teachers,schoolstaff,andfamilies
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