Prospective active national surveillance of preschools and primary schools for SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission in England, June 2020

This report on the preliminary results of the COVID-19 testing and antibody prevalence surveillance in schools programme (sKIDs) concludes that infection and transmission rates were low in preschool and primary schools under surveillance during the summer (1 June to mid-July).

SPS commentary:

Overall 12,047 participants in 131 schools had 43,039 swabs taken.

SARS-CoV-2 infection rate was 3.9/100,000/week (1 per 25,674; 95% CI, 0.10 to 21.7) in students and 11.3/100,000/week (2 per 17,695; 95% CI, 1.40-40.8) in staff. Where a SARS-CoV-2 positive case was identified, there were no additional cases in the household, class bubble or wider education setting when tested.

SARS-CoV-2 antibody positivity was 10.6% (86/814; 95%CI, 8.5-12.9%) in students and 12.7% (167/1316; 95%CI, 10.9-14.6%) in staff (p=0.14). Non-white ethnicity and having a history of COVID-19 like symptoms were significantly associated with seropositivity in both students and staff, but not school attendance or time spent in school during lockdown.

Public Health England