Summary of key findings ●
There were very few cases in ECEC and schools when community transmission was low from March to May. Infections in children peaked at the time when community transmission was highest during July and then declined in August, suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 infections in children and in ECEC and schools are driven primarily by transmission in the broader community.
●
There were a total of 1,635 SARS-CoV-2 infections associated with 343 events in ECEC and schools in Victoria between 25 January and 31 August, including staff, students, and household members. Over the same period, there were 19,109 confirmed cases recorded in Victoria as a whole. Cases associated with schools accounted for 8.5 percent of all cases in Victoria.
●
There were 230 events in schools, but the risk of SARS-CoV-2 among students remained low, with 337 students being diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection downstream of an event at a school. This represents an incidence risk of 33 cases per 100,000 students enrolled in schools this year. Only a small proportion of events in schools (8.7 percent) involved more than 10 confirmed cases.
●
There were 113 events in ECEC, which were associated with 234 downstream cases. Of these, 162 cases (69.2 percent) were in adults and 72 cases (30.7 percent) were in children. Only a small proportion of events in ECEC (5.3 percent) involved more than 10 confirmed cases.
●
Of 373 students and 139 staff diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 ‘downstream’ of events in ECEC and schools, there were 4 students and 4 staff were admitted to hospital with COVID-19, all of whom have subsequently recovered.
●
Ninety-one percent of all cases and 84 percent of all contacts associated with events in ECEC and schools were identified in July and August, highlighting the substantial impact on ECEC and schools when community transmission is high.
●
Thirty percent of events in primary schools went on to become outbreaks, compared to 41 percent of events in secondary schools.
●
Events in secondary schools required more extensive contact tracing than events in primary schools, with a median of 53 contacts per event in secondary schools compared to 16 contacts per event in primary schools
●
Events in which a young child (aged 0-5) with SARS-CoV-2 infection attended ECEC were very unlikely to result in an outbreak (13 percent of events), compared to events where an adolescent or adult attended a school (39 percent of incidents).
●
Adolescents aged 16-18 and adults accounted for the greatest number of potential introductions into schools. However, this will have been influenced by the period during which VCE students were learning face to face while most other students were learning remotely.
●
There was very limited transmission to adults aged over 70 associated with events at either ECEC or schools, with only 9 ‘downstream’ confirmed cases in this age group. It is likely that there was little interaction between children and grandparents due to the broader community mitigation strategies in place to protect the elderly.
●
It is not possible to determine the direction of transmission from child-child, staff-child, or child-staff and staff-staff as the extent and nature of contact between cases in the same events is not routinely captured in an easily analysable format, and some asymptomatic cases may go undetected. Further research is required to understand transmission dynamics within ECEC and schools.
●
The average time between confirmation of the first case in an ECEC or school event and facility closure was 2 days and on average facilities were closed within 1 day of confirmation that that a case attended while infectious. On average ECEC and schools were closed for 9 days.
●
Of all 1,635 SARS-CoV-2 infections associated with ECEC and schools, only 150 (9.2 percent) occurred in people living in regional Victoria. The geographic distribution of cases associated with schools was highly consistent with the broader epidemic. COVID-19 in Victorian Schools | 63
OFFICIAL
