Gabriel T Bosslet1, Micah Pollak2, Jeong Hoon Jang3, Rebekah Roll4, Mark Sperling5, Babar Khan1,6. 1. Department of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. 2. School of Business and Economics, Indiana University Northwest, Gary, Indiana, USA. 3. Department of Biostatistics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. 4. Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. 5. School of Education, Indiana University Northwest, Gary, Indiana, USA. 6. Regenstrief Institute, Indianapolis, IN, United States.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Our goal was to determine the county-level effect of in-person primary and secondary school reopening on daily cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Indiana. METHODS: In this county-level, population-based study, we used a panel data regression analysis of the proportion of in-person learning to evaluate an association with community-wide daily new SARS-CoV-2 cases. The study period was 12 July 2020-6 October 2020. We included 73 of 92 (79.3%) Indiana counties in the analysis, accounting for 85.7% of school corporations and 90.6% of student enrollment statewide. The primary exposure was the proportion of students returning to in-person instruction. The primary outcome was the daily new SARS-CoV-2 cases per 100 000 residents at the county level. RESULTS: There is a statistically significant relationship between the proportion of students attending K-12 schools in-person and the county level daily cases of SARS-CoV-2 28 days later. For all ages, the coefficient of interest (β) is estimated at 3.36 (95% confidence interval, 1.91 to 4.81; P < .001). This coefficient represents the effect of a change in the proportion of students attending in-person on new daily cases 28 days later. For example, a 10 percentage point increase in K-12 students attending school in-person is associated with a daily increase in SARS-CoV-2 cases in the county equal to 0.336 cases/100 000 residents of all ages. CONCLUSIONS: In-person primary and secondary school is associated with a statistically significant but proportionally small increase in the spread of SARS-CoV-2 cases.
BACKGROUND: Our goal was to determine the county-level effect of in-person primary and secondary school reopening on daily cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Indiana. METHODS: In this county-level, population-based study, we used a panel data regression analysis of the proportion of in-person learning to evaluate an association with community-wide daily new SARS-CoV-2 cases. The study period was 12 July 2020-6 October 2020. We included 73 of 92 (79.3%) Indiana counties in the analysis, accounting for 85.7% of school corporations and 90.6% of student enrollment statewide. The primary exposure was the proportion of students returning to in-person instruction. The primary outcome was the daily new SARS-CoV-2 cases per 100 000 residents at the county level. RESULTS: There is a statistically significant relationship between the proportion of students attending K-12 schools in-person and the county level daily cases of SARS-CoV-2 28 days later. For all ages, the coefficient of interest (β) is estimated at 3.36 (95% confidence interval, 1.91 to 4.81; P < .001). This coefficient represents the effect of a change in the proportion of students attending in-person on new daily cases 28 days later. For example, a 10 percentage point increase in K-12 students attending school in-person is associated with a daily increase in SARS-CoV-2 cases in the county equal to 0.336 cases/100 000 residents of all ages. CONCLUSIONS: In-person primary and secondary school is associated with a statistically significant but proportionally small increase in the spread of SARS-CoV-2 cases.
Authors: Shari Krishnaratne; Hannah Littlecott; Kerstin Sell; Jacob Burns; Julia E Rabe; Jan M Stratil; Tim Litwin; Clemens Kreutz; Michaela Coenen; Karin Geffert; Anna Helen Boger; Ani Movsisyan; Suzie Kratzer; Carmen Klinger; Katharina Wabnitz; Brigitte Strahwald; Ben Verboom; Eva Rehfuess; Renke L Biallas; Caroline Jung-Sievers; Stephan Voss; Lisa M Pfadenhauer Journal: Cochrane Database Syst Rev Date: 2022-01-17
Authors: Zeynep Ertem; Elissa Schechter-Perkins; Emily Oster; Polly van den Berg; Isabella Epshtein; Nathorn Chaiyakunapruk; Fernando Wilson; Elli Perenchevich; Warren Pettey; Westyn Branch-Elliman; Richard Nelson Journal: Res Sq Date: 2021-07-15