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Nebraska doctor says COVID transmission is 'absolutely' occurring in schools

Contract tracing COVID cases becomes more difficult as cases surge
Posted at 6:52 PM, Jan 19, 2022
and last updated 2022-01-19 20:06:59-05

OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — To contain the spread of COVID-19, doctors and specialists have tried to contact trace cases. Contact tracing involves identifying those that have become infected and who that person may have come into contact with within a certain time frame.

While some districts have said the transmission wasn't happening much or even at all in schools, doctors say it absolutely is.

Viruses like COVID-19 spread indoors and in contained spaces, like classrooms.

"When you have elementary school, roughly 20 kids together all day, they’re interacting a lot," said Dr. John Lowe, co-executive director of the Global Center for Health Security at UNMC. "They’re interacting with the same surfaces, they’re inhaling and breathing the same air. So it’s just a lot of opportunities for infectious disease to be transmitted from one person to another and creates a lot of challenges when we’re in a midst of an outbreak or pandemic."

A representative for Papillion-La Vista School District told 3 News Now that before, they believed infection was coming from outside of the school such as family gatherings or weekend plans, but now they can't say the same. With such high case counts, they now believe there is some spread of COVID-19 in schools and is a contributing factor to the decision to re-implement a mask mandate.

To contact trace, Papillion-La Vista looks at known exposures for positive cases. Did the child come into contact with another student who is also positive? Or is the child the only one with a positive case in their classroom? They also look into subgroups like extracurricular activities.

Dr. Lowe says with the omicron wave, it's become very difficult to contact trace, especially for schools.

"Schools are really challenged right now, and public health just doesn’t have resources to do that level of contact tracing in schools as well," Lowe said.

He adds that wearing a mask and staying home when you are sick can help curb the spread of the virus.

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