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OBJECTIVE The role of school closure in mitigating COVID-19 transmission has been questioned. In our medical center, during a 9-week national lockdown, an alternative school was opened for healthcare workers\' (HCW) children with a small number of children per class and strict symptom surveillance. After lockdown was lifted we screened children and their parents for SARS-CoV2 serology. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional study of HCW parents and their children after one teacher contracted COVID-19 following exposure at home and 53 children were exposed, isolated and tested by RT-PCR. We compared families with children attending the alternative school to families with children who remained at home during the 9-week lockdown. Epidemiologic and medical data were collected via a short questionnaire; naso- and oropharyngeal swabs were obtained and tested for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR, and blood was collected for SARS-CoV2 IgA and IgG titres. RESULTS A total of 435 children attended the Sheba alternative school. Among the 53 children exposed to the infected teacher, none tested positive by RT-PCR. Of these, 18 children-parent pairs were tested for serology and all were negative. A total of 106/435 (24%) children and their 78 parents were recruited for the cross-sectional study; 70 attended the Sheba school and 36 did not. Approximately 16% of children in either group reported symptoms (11/70 in the school group and 6/36 in the \'stay home\' group), yet SARS-CoV2 was not detected by PCR in any, and previous exposure, as determined by serological tests, was low and not significantly different between the groups. CONCLUSION In an alternative school for HCW\'s children, active during COVID-19 national outbreak, we found no evidence of increased infection compared with children that stayed home.
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10.1016/j.cmi.2020.11.030
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Clinical_microbiology_and_infection_:_the_official_publication_of_the_European_Society_of_Clinical_Microbiology_and_Infectious_Diseases
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The Sheba Medical Center healthcare workers\' children\'s school: can we open schools safely?
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