Almost nine in 10 secondary schools in England had no coronavirus cases after they reopened, official figures suggest.
Surveillance data showed only nine of 80 schools surveyed had spotted one infected pupil or staff member in the fortnight ending March 31. Four saw at least two cases, according to the Office for National Statistics report.
Almost 10,000 secondary teachers and pupils were swabbed for the study, which is carried out regularly to track the spread of the disease in schools.
Just 0.34 per cent of pupils tested positive compared to 1.2 per cent in December, when Covid was spreading rapidly in the community. Only one in every 500 teachers were infected in the last round of testing, down from one in 60 before Christmas.
SIS) suggests a significant reduction in the percentage of secondary school pupils and staff testing positive for COVID-19 infection since schools reopened compared to last November.
The fourth round of the
SIS – research jointly led by Public Health England (
PHE), the Office for National Statistics (
ONS) and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (
LSHTM) – tested 7,271 secondary school pupils and 2,744 staff for COVID-19 infection between 15 and 31 March.
The results suggest infections fell significantly among both staff and pupils compared to previous findings in November and December 2020.
The latest study, which looked at schools from across 14 participating local authorities, found that 0.34% of secondary school pupils tested positive for current infection (95% confidence interval: 0.16% to 0.63%) and 0.19% of secondary school staff tested positive for current infection (95% confidence interval: 0.04% to 0.58%).
Study shows drop among secondary school pupils and staff testing positive for COVID-19 compared to Autumn 2020 term
Study shows drop among secondary school pupils and staff testing positive for COVID-19 compared to Autumn 2020 term 4 May 2021 London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine https://lshtm.ac.uk/themes/custom/lshtm/images/lshtm-logo-black.png
The latest round of the Schools Infection Survey (SIS) suggests a significant reduction in the percentage of secondary school pupils and staff testing positive for COVID-19 infection since schools reopened compared to last November. Share
Data from the fourth round of the SIS – research jointly led by Public Health England (PHE), the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) – tested 7,271 secondary school pupils and 2,744 staff for COVID-19 infection between 15 -
Published:
5:09 PM March 9, 2021
Pupils wearing face masks as they are back in the classroom for the first time in two months as part of the first stage of lockdown easing.
- Credit: PA
The reopening of schools to all pupils could lead to an increase in new coronavirus cases before the further easing of restrictions.
Boris Johnson has ruled out suggestions that the Government should accelerate its planned lifting of lockdown guidelines as the reopening of schools is likely to cause a brief rise in infections.
Despite more than 20 million people now vaccinated in the UK, the prime minister said a risk of increased transmission is inevitable following the return of pupils.
UK COVID-19 Update: Brazil Variant of Concern, and Vaccine Rollout for Over 60s medscape.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from medscape.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.