Surveillance of Outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2 Infections at School in the Veneto Region: Methods and Results of the Public Health Response during the Second and Third Waves of the Pandemic between January and June 2021

Michele Tonon, Filippo Da Re, Chiara Zampieri, Michele Nicoletti, Riccardo Caberlotto, Francesco Paolo De Siena, Gaia Lattavo, Anil Minnicelli, Alberto Zardetto, Benedetta Sforzi, Elisa Ros, Michele Mongillo, Alessandro Scatto, Elena Vecchiato, Vincenzo Baldo, Silvia Cocchio and Francesca Russo
Additional contact information
Michele Tonon: Regional Directorate of Prevention, Food Safety, Veterinary Public Health—Regione del Veneto, 30123 Venice, Italy
Filippo Da Re: Regional Directorate of Prevention, Food Safety, Veterinary Public Health—Regione del Veneto, 30123 Venice, Italy
Chiara Zampieri: Department of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padua, 35122 Padova, Italy
Michele Nicoletti: Department of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padua, 35122 Padova, Italy
Riccardo Caberlotto: Department of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padua, 35122 Padova, Italy
Francesco Paolo De Siena: Department of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padua, 35122 Padova, Italy
Gaia Lattavo: Department of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padua, 35122 Padova, Italy
Anil Minnicelli: Department of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padua, 35122 Padova, Italy
Alberto Zardetto: Department of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padua, 35122 Padova, Italy
Benedetta Sforzi: Department of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padua, 35122 Padova, Italy
Elisa Ros: Regional Directorate of Prevention, Food Safety, Veterinary Public Health—Regione del Veneto, 30123 Venice, Italy
Michele Mongillo: Regional Directorate of Prevention, Food Safety, Veterinary Public Health—Regione del Veneto, 30123 Venice, Italy
Alessandro Scatto: Informative Systems Unit, Azienda Zero—Regione del Veneto, 35131 Padova, Italy
Elena Vecchiato: Informative Systems Unit, Azienda Zero—Regione del Veneto, 35131 Padova, Italy
Vincenzo Baldo: Department of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padua, 35122 Padova, Italy
Silvia Cocchio: Department of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padua, 35122 Padova, Italy
Francesca Russo: Regional Directorate of Prevention, Food Safety, Veterinary Public Health—Regione del Veneto, 30123 Venice, Italy

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 22, 1-11

Abstract: During the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries adopted various non-pharmacological interventions to contain the number of infections. The most often used policy was school closures. We describe the strategy adopted by the Veneto Regional Authority to contain transmission in school settings. This included a detailed school surveillance system, strict contact tracing, and maintaining school attendance with self-monitoring for symptoms whenever possible. All analyzed COVID-19 cases among children, adolescents (0–19 years old), and school staff were registered using a web-based application between 4 January 2021 and 13 June 2021. During the study period, 6272 episodes of infection in schools were identified; 87% were linked to a student index case and 13% to school staff; 69% generated no secondary cases; 24% generated one or two; and only 7% caused more than two. Our data may help to clarify the role of school closures, providing useful input for decisions in the months to come. Good practice in public health management needs tools that provide a real-time interpretation of phenomena like COVID-19 outbreaks. The proposed measures should be easy to adopt and accessible to policymakers.

Keywords: COVID-19; school; Italy; surveillance; public health; epidemiology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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