New covid testing model aims to keep kids in school arkansasonline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from arkansasonline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Daily Covid-19 testing of pupils ‘just as effective’ in controlling transmission 23/07/2021, 12:08 am
Students Ellie Fisher (left) and Beth Hicks (right) take Coronavirus lateral flow tests at Outwood Academy Adwick in Doncaster (PA)
Daily testing of pupils who have been in contact with someone with Covid-19, rather than isolating whole groups, may be just as effective in controlling transmission in secondary schools, a study suggests.
Research by the University of Oxford estimates that daily Covid-19 testing in schools – as an alternative to the current 10-day contact isolation policy – can reduce coronavirus-related school absences by 39%.
Findings suggest only a small percentage (1.5-1.6%) of pupils and staff tested positive for Covid-19 after close contact with a case in school or college.
COVID-19: Daily tests could be as effective in controlling transmission as isolation, study says iwradio.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from iwradio.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Fri 23 Jul 2021 01.01 EDT
Scientists have recommended daily tests for students who come into contact with Covid cases at secondary schools and colleges after finding that it prevents the spread of infection as much as sending whole bubbles home to isolate.
Researchers at Oxford University compared the two approaches in 201 schools and colleges between April and June this year. Daily testing with lateral flow devices appeared to marginally reduce symptomatic infections in the schools, but had a greater impact on lost education, reducing the number of absences by an estimated 20% to 39%.
The results of the trial, commissioned by the government, suggests that switching to daily lateral flow tests instead of sending contacts of Covid cases home to self-isolate for 10 days may help keep students in school after the summer without exacerbating the spread of the virus.
Daily Covid tests in schools may be as effective in controlling transmission rates as isolation plymouthherald.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from plymouthherald.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.