(Reuters) – Teachers may play an important role in transmitting COVID-19 to schools, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Monday, citing a study conducted in elementary schools in a school district in Georgia.
The report comes after researchers at the agency last month said there was little evidence that schools were spreading COVID-19 infections in the country – based in part on a study by Wisconsin schools – to alleviate concerns about permission to learn in person. The Wisconsin study found a significantly lower spread of the virus in schools compared to transmission to surrounding communities.
A survey of about 2,600 students and 700 elementary school staff in a school district in Georgia found nine groups of COVID-19 cases involving 13 educators and 32 students in six elementary schools, the CDC said. .
Of these, two clusters involved probable teacher-to-teacher transmission, which was followed by teacher-to-student transmission in classrooms, the agency said in its weekly report on morbidity and mortality.
The transmission from teachers led to about half of the 31 school-related cases, according to the survey.
The study was subject to limitations, including difficulties in determining whether coronavirus transmission occurred at school or in the local community, the agency said.
Distinguishing between the two types of transmission was particularly difficult when the average number of 7-day cases per 100,000 people exceeded 150, the agency said.
The CDC said educating COVID-19 to educators should be seen as an additional mitigation measure that should be added when available, although not necessary for reopening schools.
Report by Manojna Maddipatla in Bengaluru; Editing by Bill Berkrot