COVID-19 mitigation measures in primary schools and association with infection and school staff wellbeing: An observational survey linked with routine data in Wales, UK.
<h4>Introduction</h4>School-based COVID-19 mitigation strategies have greatly impacted the primary school day (children aged 3-11) including: wearing face coverings, two metre distancing, no mixing of children, and no breakfast clubs or extra-curricular activities. This study examines th...
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2022-01-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0264023 |
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| author | Emily Marchant Lucy Griffiths Tom Crick Richard Fry Joe Hollinghurst Michaela James Laura Cowley Hoda Abbasizanjani Fatemeh Torabi Daniel A Thompson Jonathan Kennedy Ashley Akbari Michael B Gravenor Ronan A Lyons Sinead Brophy |
| author_facet | Emily Marchant Lucy Griffiths Tom Crick Richard Fry Joe Hollinghurst Michaela James Laura Cowley Hoda Abbasizanjani Fatemeh Torabi Daniel A Thompson Jonathan Kennedy Ashley Akbari Michael B Gravenor Ronan A Lyons Sinead Brophy |
| author_sort | Emily Marchant |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <h4>Introduction</h4>School-based COVID-19 mitigation strategies have greatly impacted the primary school day (children aged 3-11) including: wearing face coverings, two metre distancing, no mixing of children, and no breakfast clubs or extra-curricular activities. This study examines these mitigation measures and association with COVID-19 infection, respiratory infection, and school staff wellbeing between October to December 2020 in Wales, UK.<h4>Methods</h4>A school staff survey captured self-reported COVID-19 mitigation measures in the school, participant anxiety and depression, and open-text responses regarding experiences of teaching and implementing measures. These survey responses were linked to national-scale COVID-19 test results data to examine association of measures in the school and the likelihood of a positive (staff or pupil) COVID-19 case in the school (clustered by school, adjusted for school size and free school meals using logistic regression). Linkage was conducted through the SAIL (Secure Anonymised Information Linkage) Databank.<h4>Results</h4>Responses were obtained from 353 participants from 59 primary schools within 15 of 22 local authorities. Having more direct non-household contacts was associated with a higher likelihood of COVID-19 positive case in the school (1-5 contacts compared to none, OR 2.89 (1.01, 8.31)) and a trend to more self-reported cold symptoms. Staff face covering was not associated with a lower odds of school COVID-19 cases (mask vs. no covering OR 2.82 (1.11, 7.14)) and was associated with higher self-reported cold symptoms. School staff reported the impacts of wearing face coverings on teaching, including having to stand closer to pupils and raise their voices to be heard. 67.1% were not able to implement two metre social distancing from pupils. We did not find evidence that maintaining a two metre distance was associated with lower rates of COVID-19 in the school.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Implementing, adhering to and evaluating COVID-19 mitigation guidelines is challenging in primary school settings. Our findings suggest that reducing non-household direct contacts lowers infection rates. There was no evidence that face coverings, two metre social distancing or stopping children mixing was associated with lower odds of COVID-19 or cold infection rates in the school. Primary school staff found teaching challenging during COVID-19 restrictions, especially for younger learners and those with additional learning needs. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1cb4270b57f64bb6905b460f18b298df |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
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| spelling | doaj-art-1cb4270b57f64bb6905b460f18b298df2025-08-20T03:46:21ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032022-01-01172e026402310.1371/journal.pone.0264023COVID-19 mitigation measures in primary schools and association with infection and school staff wellbeing: An observational survey linked with routine data in Wales, UK.Emily MarchantLucy GriffithsTom CrickRichard FryJoe HollinghurstMichaela JamesLaura CowleyHoda AbbasizanjaniFatemeh TorabiDaniel A ThompsonJonathan KennedyAshley AkbariMichael B GravenorRonan A LyonsSinead Brophy<h4>Introduction</h4>School-based COVID-19 mitigation strategies have greatly impacted the primary school day (children aged 3-11) including: wearing face coverings, two metre distancing, no mixing of children, and no breakfast clubs or extra-curricular activities. This study examines these mitigation measures and association with COVID-19 infection, respiratory infection, and school staff wellbeing between October to December 2020 in Wales, UK.<h4>Methods</h4>A school staff survey captured self-reported COVID-19 mitigation measures in the school, participant anxiety and depression, and open-text responses regarding experiences of teaching and implementing measures. These survey responses were linked to national-scale COVID-19 test results data to examine association of measures in the school and the likelihood of a positive (staff or pupil) COVID-19 case in the school (clustered by school, adjusted for school size and free school meals using logistic regression). Linkage was conducted through the SAIL (Secure Anonymised Information Linkage) Databank.<h4>Results</h4>Responses were obtained from 353 participants from 59 primary schools within 15 of 22 local authorities. Having more direct non-household contacts was associated with a higher likelihood of COVID-19 positive case in the school (1-5 contacts compared to none, OR 2.89 (1.01, 8.31)) and a trend to more self-reported cold symptoms. Staff face covering was not associated with a lower odds of school COVID-19 cases (mask vs. no covering OR 2.82 (1.11, 7.14)) and was associated with higher self-reported cold symptoms. School staff reported the impacts of wearing face coverings on teaching, including having to stand closer to pupils and raise their voices to be heard. 67.1% were not able to implement two metre social distancing from pupils. We did not find evidence that maintaining a two metre distance was associated with lower rates of COVID-19 in the school.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Implementing, adhering to and evaluating COVID-19 mitigation guidelines is challenging in primary school settings. Our findings suggest that reducing non-household direct contacts lowers infection rates. There was no evidence that face coverings, two metre social distancing or stopping children mixing was associated with lower odds of COVID-19 or cold infection rates in the school. Primary school staff found teaching challenging during COVID-19 restrictions, especially for younger learners and those with additional learning needs.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0264023 |
| spellingShingle | Emily Marchant Lucy Griffiths Tom Crick Richard Fry Joe Hollinghurst Michaela James Laura Cowley Hoda Abbasizanjani Fatemeh Torabi Daniel A Thompson Jonathan Kennedy Ashley Akbari Michael B Gravenor Ronan A Lyons Sinead Brophy COVID-19 mitigation measures in primary schools and association with infection and school staff wellbeing: An observational survey linked with routine data in Wales, UK. PLoS ONE |
| title | COVID-19 mitigation measures in primary schools and association with infection and school staff wellbeing: An observational survey linked with routine data in Wales, UK. |
| title_full | COVID-19 mitigation measures in primary schools and association with infection and school staff wellbeing: An observational survey linked with routine data in Wales, UK. |
| title_fullStr | COVID-19 mitigation measures in primary schools and association with infection and school staff wellbeing: An observational survey linked with routine data in Wales, UK. |
| title_full_unstemmed | COVID-19 mitigation measures in primary schools and association with infection and school staff wellbeing: An observational survey linked with routine data in Wales, UK. |
| title_short | COVID-19 mitigation measures in primary schools and association with infection and school staff wellbeing: An observational survey linked with routine data in Wales, UK. |
| title_sort | covid 19 mitigation measures in primary schools and association with infection and school staff wellbeing an observational survey linked with routine data in wales uk |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0264023 |
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