CDC research shows that teachers can play a ‘pivotal role’ in the spread of Covid in schools

School teachers and staff can play a ‘pivotal role’ in bringing Covid-19 into schools where social distance and face-covering precautions are not followed, and vaccinating them against the disease could help bring students back to school safely. class, according to a new federal government. study published on Monday.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigated the spread of the coronavirus within eight public elementary schools in Georgia in the same school district between December 1 and January 22, including 24 in-person learning days. During this period, the average number of cases per 100,000 residents in the province has increased by nearly 300%, the study said.

The federal health department, along with state and local public health departments, found nine Covid-19 “clusters” with 13 educators and 32 students in six of the eight elementary schools.

The median cluster size – defined as three or more linked Covid-19 cases – was six individuals, and one educator was the “index patient,” or first identified case, in four of those clusters, the CDC found. One student was the first patient in a cluster, while the other four clusters had an unidentifiable index patient.

All but one of the clusters involved “at least one educator and likely educator-to-pupil transmission,” the study found.

“These findings suggest that educators may play an important role in school transmission and that school transmission may occur when physical distance and mask adherence are not optimal,” the CDC researchers wrote in the study.

In the study, the CDC researchers said they had conducted interviews with parents, educators, and school principals and studied seating, class, physical distance, and adherence to recommended mask use during face-to-face learning to determine case links.

They found that all nine clusters had “less than ideal” adherence to social distancing recommendations. Students were less than 1 meter apart, and in many cases, the spread of the virus among students could have spread during small-group sessions, according to the study.

The findings come just over a week after the CDC unveiled new guidelines on how schools can safely reopen for personal learning despite the spread of the virus. Among the many recommendations, the CDC advises districts to phase in their reopening plans according to the severity of the outbreak in their areas.

It also says that schools should apply “essential elements” in resuming personal learning, including wearing masks, taking physical distance, and controlling the rate of diffusion in the surrounding community.

While the CDC advised states to prioritize the vaccination of teachers and staff “as soon as supplies allow,” the guideline did not recommend it for reopening. However, the study published on Monday suggested that vaccinating educators could be important to protect the most at-risk individuals while reducing interruptions in personal learning and potentially preventing the spread of the virus in schools.

“While not required for schools to reopen, COVID-19 vaccination should be considered as an additional mitigation measure to be added when available,” the researchers wrote.

– CNBC’s Will Feuer contributed to this report.