Implications of the school-household network structure on SARS-CoV-2 transmission under school reopening strategies in England

Nat Commun. 2021 Mar 29;12(1):1942. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-22213-0.

Abstract

In early 2020 many countries closed schools to mitigate the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Since then, governments have sought to relax the closures, engendering a need to understand associated risks. Using address records, we construct a network of schools in England connected through pupils who share households. We evaluate the risk of transmission between schools under different reopening scenarios. We show that whilst reopening select year-groups causes low risk of large-scale transmission, reopening secondary schools could result in outbreaks affecting up to 2.5 million households if unmitigated, highlighting the importance of careful monitoring and within-school infection control to avoid further school closures or other restrictions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • COVID-19 / epidemiology
  • COVID-19 / transmission*
  • COVID-19 / virology
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Disease Transmission, Infectious / prevention & control
  • England / epidemiology
  • Family Characteristics*
  • Humans
  • Pandemics
  • Risk Assessment
  • Risk Factors
  • SARS-CoV-2 / isolation & purification
  • Schools / organization & administration*
  • Schools / statistics & numerical data