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Limited transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in schools in Ireland during the 2020–2021 school year
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Ciara Kelly1,2,*
, Philippa White3,*
, Elizabeth Kennedy4,* , Dearbhail O’Flynn4,* , Aoife Colgan1 , Mary Ward4 , Margaret B O’Sullivan3 , Claire M Buckley5,6 , Breda Cosgrove7 , Melissa Canny2 , Katharine Harkin8 , Fiona McGuire8 , Catherine Lynch9 , Aidan Ryan10 , Sean Denyer11 , Kevin Kelleher12 , Abigail Collins13
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View Affiliations Hide AffiliationsAffiliations: 1 Health Protection Surveillance Centre, Dublin, Ireland 2 Department of Public Health, HSE West, Merlin Park Hospital, Galway, Ireland 3 Department of Public Health, HSE South, St. Finbarr’s Hospital, Cork, Ireland 4 Department of Public Health, HSE East, Dr Steeven’s Hospital, Dublin, Ireland 5 Contact Management Programme, Health Service Executive, Ireland 6 School of Public Health, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland 7 Department of Public Health, HSE Mid-West, Mount Kennett House, Henry Street, Limerick, Ireland 8 Department of Public Health, HSE Midlands, HSE Area Offices, Arden Road, Tullamore, Co. Offaly, Ireland 9 Department of Public Health, HSE South-East, The Tower, Dublin Road, Lacken, Kilkenny, Ireland 10 Department of Public Health, HSE North-West, Iona House, Upper Main Street, Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, Ireland 11 Department of Public Health, HSE North-East, Railway Street, Navan, Co. Meath, Ireland 12 Office of Chief Clinical Officer, Public Health and Child Health HSE, Mount Kennett House, Mount Kennett Place, Henry Street, Limerick, Ireland 13 Child Health Public Health HSE, HSE Area Offices, Arden Road, Tullamore, Co. Offaly, Ireland* These authors contributed equally and share first authorship.Correspondence:Ciara Kellykellyc42 tcd.ie
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Citation style for this article: Kelly Ciara, White Philippa, Kennedy Elizabeth, O’Flynn Dearbhail, Colgan Aoife, Ward Mary, O’Sullivan Margaret B, Buckley Claire M, Cosgrove Breda, Canny Melissa, Harkin Katharine, McGuire Fiona, Lynch Catherine, Ryan Aidan, Denyer Sean, Kelleher Kevin, Collins Abigail. Limited transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in schools in Ireland during the 2020–2021 school year. Euro Surveill. 2023;28(15):pii=2200554. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2023.28.15.2200554 Received: 03 Jul 2022; Accepted: 13 Jan 2023
Abstract
The role of schools in SARS-CoV-2 transmission has been a debated topic since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
To examine SARS-CoV-2 transmission in all schools in Ireland during the 2020–21 school year.
In a national descriptive cross-sectional study, we investigated PCR-confirmed cases of COVID-19 among students (aged < 20 years) and staff (aged ≥ 20 years) who attended school during their infectious period to identify school close contacts. SARS-CoV-2 PCR test results of all school close contacts were pooled to obtain an overall positivity rate and to stratify positivity rate by school setting and role (i.e. student or staff).
In total, 100,474 individuals were tested as close contacts in 1,771 schools during the 2020–21 school year. An overall close contact positivity rate of 2.4% was observed across all schools (n = 2,373 secondary cases). The highest positivity rate was seen in special schools (3.4%), followed by primary (2.5%) and post-primary schools (1.8%) (p < 0.001). Of the close contacts identified, 90.5% (n = 90,953) were students and 9.5% (n = 9,521) were staff. Overall, students had a significantly higher positivity rate than staff (2.4% vs 1.8%, p < 0.001).
This study demonstrated that a low level of SARS-CoV-2 transmission occurred in Irish schools during the 2020-21 academic year. In the event of future pandemics, and as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, there is a need to carefully weigh up the harms and benefits associated with disrupted education to mitigate infectious disease transmission before reflexively closing classes or schools.

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