Coronavirus: Schools ‘are at no higher risk than home’ for students and staff

Attending elementary school does not put children and staff at greater risk of contracting coronavirus than staying home, a study of 131 schools suggests.

Tests to find out who had already had the virus found similar levels of antibodies in students and teachers.

But the study, of 12,000 adults and children in England, was carried out in June and early July, when there were very few cases.

Experts say that more studies are needed, when all children attend school.

Students and staff were assessed during the last six weeks of the summer term when the Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 children were able to return to school. Many more have returned in recent days.

Scientists from Public Health England, who led the study, found that only three people (one child and two staff members) tested positive for the virus, 0.02% of swabs.

There was no evidence that any of these three people transmitted the virus to other people they lived or worked with. This reflects previous PHE research showing a low number of cases and outbreaks in schools.

Antibody levels

A separate sample of 2,100 staff members and children, who were tested for antibodies, found that 10.6% of students and 12.7% of staff had previously had coronavirus.

This could suggest that children are just as likely as adults to be infected, rather than less susceptible to the disease.

But because so few positive cases are detected in children, previous research confirms that they are likely to experience mild symptoms, or none at all.

The study found that children and staff who attended school more frequently were not more likely to test positive for antibodies than those who did not attend school or attended less frequently.

This could indicate that infection levels in schools simply reflect virus levels in communities where people live.

However, some groups were more likely to have antibodies: they were not white, lived in the same home as a healthcare worker, and had experienced symptoms.

Secondary schools were not included in the study, so no conclusions can be drawn about older children.

‘Soothing’

Dr Shamez Ladhani, Consultant Epidemiologist, Public Health England, said: “This is the largest study of its kind in the country and suggests that attending preschool and primary school carries no additional risk to staff or students. .

“Although these results are preliminary, they should be very reassuring for parents who may be anxious about the return of their children to school.”

Dr Liz Whittaker, a clinical professor and consultant pediatrician at Imperial College London, said it was a “good quality study” but “time limited” as there was very low transmission of the coronavirus during the period studied.

“It is essential that studies like these continue in the coming months and, more importantly, they also take place in high school and college,” he added.

Professor Ravindra Gupta, a professor of clinical microbiology at the University of Cambridge, warned that schools would now be dealing with two to six times as many children, which could alter the results.

“There is less capacity for social distancing than schools had in June. We must not be complacent and falsely reassured. We must ensure proper monitoring and testing strategies to detect infections in schools before they spread,” he said.

Regarding the finding that children were often asymptomatic, Professor Gupta said that means that “children can still go to school if we do not carry out regular tests for the virus in schools.”

• WILL COVID-19 CHANGE THE WORLD OF WORK FOR THE GOOD ?: Is working from home a long-term solution?
• “WE ARE ALL STRONGER THAN WE THINK”: What are the positive aspects of 2020?