WVDE releases data on COVID-19 and public schools
CHARLESTON - Ahead of a return to in-person classes later this month, the West Virginia Department of Education has released data concerning COVID-19 and public schools.
Last month Gov. Jim Justice announced West Virginia public schools would resume five-day-a-week in-person classes beginning Jan. 19.
Among the data points in the WVDE release:
* Data from 191 countries shows no consistent link between in-person school instruction and increased transmission of COVID-19. Schools are not a main driver of community transmission, and children are more likely to get the virus outside of school settings.
* WV data indicates that students and school employees are acquiring the virus outside of the educational setting or in situations where guidance is disregarded. There have been 68 outbreaks in school setting, resulting in 573 confirmed cases reported from 44 counties (53% staff; 47% students). There were 2-26 cases per outbreak (median 4 cases per outbreak).
* Schools and local health departments have worked diligently to implement protective measures to further reduce transmission in the school setting, specifically: Consistent and correct use of masks; social distancing when possible; hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette; cleaning and disinfecting of appropriate areas; and collaborative contact tracing by school and local health department
* When schools are closed, many school aged children are not at home but instead attend child care facilities or receive care from friends or family members outside the student’s home. Not only does this potentially increase student exposure, but it is also unclear whether these settings implement the same protective measures to reduce the transmission of COVID-19. Research indicates districts that close schools attempting to curb community transmission have higher rates of transmission then those districts that have remained opened and followed protocols.
Based on the above information, schools should remain open and continue to layer prevention strategies to reduce COVID-19 risk and exposure for students, school employees, and families.
* Extensive data collected from across the country over the past 3 months confirms that schools can safely operate face-to-face learning.
* Research indicates districts that close schools attempting to curb community transmission have higher rates of transmission than districts that have remained open using masking and social distancing.
The information and implementation of COVID-19 recovery protocols can be found at https://wvde.us/school-recovery-protocols.