As the entire world is awaiting a possible third wave of coronavirus, a new study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that teachers play a crucial role in spreading COVID in elementary schools. The new finding points at the vitality of prioritizing school staff in the ongoing COVID vaccine rollout.
Educators Spreading Coronavirus
The study report suggested that vaccinating educators could potentially reduce the spread of coronavirus in schools which will in turn help to reopen educational institutions safely.
During the study, CDC experts conducted an investigation in Cobb County, Georgia, where nine coronavirus outbreaks happened in six elementary schools between December 1, 2020, and January 22, 2021. During the investigation, CDC experts discovered 32 student cases and 13 educator cases.
According to the study, two of the infection clusters were triggered with educator-to-educator spread, and later, teachers made students exposed to the pandemic. Experts revealed that coronavirus might have spread across students and teachers when they remove vaccines during the time of lunch.
"In all clusters, educators played an important role in the spread of COVID-19 in the schools. Although there was COVID-19 spread from student to educator and from student to student, these happened less frequently," Jasmine Reed, CDC public affairs specialist told Business Insider.
Coronavirus Latest Statistics in the United States
After a deadly month in January, the coronavirus pandemic is showing signs of slowing down in the United States. In February, figures have started coming down, and on February 22, only 59,000 positive COVID cases were reported in the nation. Even though the positive cases in the country are getting reduced, the death toll is still at its peak with more than 1,500 mortalities getting reported every day.
As of now, there are more than 28 million recorded positive COVID-19 cases in the United States, and the pandemic has already claimed the lives of over 5,10,000 people.
In the meantime, president Joe Biden recently refused to predict the time in which the pandemic is going to end. However, he assured that the country is going to win the battle against coronavirus.
