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Volume 30, Number 1—January 2024
Research

COVID-19–Related School Closures, United States, July 27, 2020–June 30, 2022

Nicole ZviedriteComments to Author , Ferdous Jahan, Sarah Moreland1, Faruque Ahmed, and Amra Uzicanin
Author affiliations: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA (N. Zviedrite, F. Jahan, S. Moreland, F. Ahmed, A. Uzicanin); Cherokee Nation Operational Solutions, LLC, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA (F. Jahan); Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA (S. Moreland)

Main Article

Table 4

Weekly correlation between COVID-19–related school closures and laboratory-confirmed COVID-19–associated hospitalizations, by school year and age group, United States, July 27, 2020–June 30, 2022*

School closure type Weeks 52–53 Weeks considered as winter school break†
Weeks 52–53 or weeks 51–52
 Weeks 53–1 or weeks 52–1
r (95% CI) P value r (95% CI) p value r (95% CI) p value
Transmission-related school closures‡
2020–21
All ages 0.639 (0.420–0.783) <0.001 0.650 (0.431–0.791) <0.001 0.618 (0.387–0.770) <0.001
0–4 y 0.403 (0.119–0.620) 0.006 0.406 (0.120–0.625) 0.006 0.367 (0.074–0.596) 0.014
5–17 y 0.373 (0.085–0.598) 0.011 0.378 (0.087–0.604) 0.011 0.339 (0.043–0.575) 0.024
18–49 y 0.548 (0.298–0.722) <0.001 0.548 (0.294–0.723) <0.001 0.520 (0.258–0.705) <0.001
50–64 y 0.622 (0.396–0.771) <0.001 0.630 (0.404–0.778) <0.001 0.599 (0.362–0.758) <0.001
>65 y 0.669 (0.461–0.802) <0.001 0.685 (0.480–0.813) <0.001 0.650 (0.431–0.791) <0.001
2021–22
All ages 0.812 (0.667–0.894) <0.001 0.803 (0.650–0.890) <0.001 0.798 (0.641–0.886) <0.001
0–4 y 0.357 (0.051–0.596) 0.021 0.321 (0.006–0.572) 0.043 0.308 (−0.008–0.563) 0.053
5–17 y 0.687 (0.474–0.818) <0.001 0.676 (0.454–0.813) <0.001 0.663 (0.436–0.805) <0.001
18–49 y 0.761 (0.586–0.864) <0.001 0.750 (0.565–0.858) <0.001 0.743 (0.555–0.854) <0.001
50–64 y 0.827 (0.692–0.903) <0.001 0.820 (0.677–0.899) <0.001 0.814 (0.668–0.896) <0.001
>65 y
 0.700 (0.494–0.827)
 <0.001
0.685 (0.468–0.818)
 <0.001
0.677 (0.457–0.814)
 <0.001
Total school closures§
2020–21
All ages 0.651 (0.437–0.791) <0.001 0.675 (0.467–0.807) <0.001 0.631 (0.405–0.779) <0.001
0–4 y 0.386 (0.100–0.608) 0.008 0.401 (0.114–0.621) 0.007 0.349 (0.054–0.582) 0.020
5–17 y 0.351 (0.060–0.581) 0.018 0.368 (0.075–0.596) 0.014 0.315 (0.016–0.557) 0.037
18–49 y 0.533 (0.278–0.712) <0.001 0.5444 (0.288–0.721) <0.001 0.503 (0.237–0.693) <0.001
50–64 y 0.630 (0.407–0.776) <0.001 0.651 (0.432–0.791) <0.001 0.608 (0.373–0.763) <0.001
>65 y 0.720 (0.535–0.834) <0.001 0.752 (0.580–0.855) <0.001 0.705 (0.510–0.826) <0.001
2021–22
All ages 0.708 (0.518–0.827) <0.001 0.693 (0.492–0.818) <0.001 0.689 (0.486–0.815) <0.001
0–4 y 0.470 (0.200–0.668) 0.001 0.442 (0.162–0.650) 0.002 0.433 (0.152–0.644) 0.003
5–17 y 0.646 (0.429–0.787) <0.001 0.630 (0.404–0.778) <0.001 0.621 (0.391–0.772) <0.001
18–49 y 0.645 (0.427–0.786) <0.001 0.625 (0.397–0.775) <0.001 0.620 (0.390–0.771) <0.001
50–64 y 0.723 (0.539–0.836) <0.001 0.708 (0.514–0.828) <0.001 0.704 (0.508–0.825) <0.001
>65 y 0.677 (0.472–0.806) <0.001 0.659 (0.443–0.797) <0.001 0.654 (0.437–0.793) <0.001

*School closure is defined as a transition from being open to being closed for in-person instruction excluding any scheduled days off; fully in-person and hybrid learning modalities are classified as open, and fully remote and closed are classified as closed. School year: 2020–21 (July 27, 2020–June 30, 2021), 2021–22 (August 1, 2021–June 30, 2022). Data on laboratory-confirmed COVID-19–associated hospitalizations was available from COVID-NET (9). Spearman rank correlation (r) was used to evaluate the relationship between COVID-19–associated cases, deaths, and PCR-positivity (epidemiologic weeks 31–26). †School winter break was excluded from the analysis. The break is understood to be ≈2 weeks in length; however, the start and end dates vary by school and district. Winter breaks consistently overlap on the last week of the year, which was epidemiologic week 53 in 2020 and epidemiologic week 52 in 2021. In 2020, we calculated correlations excluding winter break at epidemiologic week 53, weeks 52–53, and weeks 53–1. In 2021, correlations were calculated excluding winter break at epidemiologic week 52, weeks 51–52, and weeks 52–1. ‡Transmission-related reasons were COVID-19 cases, suspected cases, increased student absenteeism, increased staff absenteeism, cluster or widespread transmission in the community, state or local guidance or mandate to close schools in response to COVID-19, to clean or disinfect school facilities, and other. §Total school closures were both transmission and non–transmission-related school closures. Transmission-related reasons were COVID-19 cases, suspected cases, increased student absenteeism, increased staff absenteeism, cluster or widespread transmission in the community, state or local guidance or mandate to close schools in response to COVID-19, to clean or disinfect school facilities, and other. Non–transmission-related reasons were COVID-19 vaccinations and side effects of vaccination of staff or students, teacher or staff shortage, for student or staff mental health, and other reasons associated with COVID-19.

Main Article

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Main Article

1Current affiliation: Henry M. Jackson Foundation, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.

Page created: November 08, 2023
Page updated: December 20, 2023
Page reviewed: December 20, 2023
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