Implementation of preventive measures to prevent COVID-19: A national study of English primary schools in summer 2020

Neisha Sundaram; Chris Bonell; Shamez Ladhani; Sinéad M. Langan; Frances Baawuah; Ifeanychukwu Okike; Shazaad Ahmad; Joanne Beckmann; Joanna Garstang; Bernadette E. Brent; Andrew J. Brent; Zahin Amin-Chowdhury; Felicity Aiano; James Hargreaves

doi:10.1093/her/cyab016

Implementation of preventive measures to prevent COVID-19: A national study of English primary schools in summer 2020

Neisha Sundaram^*
, Chris Bonell
, Shamez Ladhani
, Sinéad M. Langan
, Frances Baawuah
, Ifeanychukwu Okike
, Shazaad Ahmad
, Joanne Beckmann
, Joanna Garstang
, Bernadette E. Brent
, Andrew J. Brent
, Zahin Amin-Chowdhury
, Felicity Aiano
, James Hargreaves

^*Corresponding author for this work

Immunisation & Vaccine Preventable Diseases

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

27 Citations (Scopus)

38 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

We examined the feasibility of implementing preventive measures to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission across 105 English primary schools in summer 2020 via a survey and interviews with headteachers. High rates of implementation of most recommended measures were noted with the exception of requiring 2 m distance for students, fitting hand sanitizers in classrooms and introducing one-way systems in school corridors. Measures such as regular handwashing and stopping assemblies were considered easy to implement. Majorly challenging measures included distancing between individuals (for students: 51%, N 99; for staff: 34%; N 98; for parents: 26%, N 100), spacing out desks (34%, N 99), keeping same staff assigned to each student group (33%, N 97) and staggering break times (25%, N 99). Rapid implementation was facilitated by staff commitment and communication among stakeholders, but hampered by limitations with guidance received, physical environments, resources, parental adherence and balancing preventive measures with learning. Difficulties with distancing for younger children suggest that smaller bubbles with fewer distancing requirements within these may be a policy option. Schools require further financial, human resource and other support for effective implementation of preventive measures.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	272-285
Number of pages	14
Journal	Health Education Research
Volume	36
Issue number	3
Early online date	16 Apr 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyab016
Publication status	Published - 1 Jun 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information: This work was supported by the Department of Health and Social Care, United Kingdom. The funder had no role in the study design, data collection, data analysis and interpretation, writing or the decision to submit this article for publication.

Open Access: This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press.

Citation:

Neisha Sundaram, Chris Bonell, Shamez Ladhani, Sinéad M Langan, Frances Baawuah, Ifeanychukwu Okike, Shazaad Ahmad, Joanne Beckmann, Joanna Garstang, Bernadette E Brent, Andrew J Brent, Zahin Amin-Chowdhury, Felicity Aiano, James Hargreaves, Implementation of preventive measures to prevent COVID-19: a national study of English primary schools in summer 2020, Health Education Research, Volume 36, Issue 3, June 2021, Pages 272–285, https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyab016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyab016

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

TRANSMISSION
OUTBREAKS
CHILDREN

Access to Document

10.1093/her/cyab016Licence: CC BY

Sundaram2021ImplementationOfPreventiveMeasuresToPreventCOVID-19ANationalStudyOfEnglishPrimarySchoolsInSummer2020HealthEducResFinal published version, 263 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

Sundaram, N., Bonell, C., Ladhani, S., Langan, S. M., Baawuah, F., Okike, I., Ahmad, S., Beckmann, J., Garstang, J., Brent, B. E., Brent, A. J., Amin-Chowdhury, Z., Aiano, F., & Hargreaves, J. (2021). Implementation of preventive measures to prevent COVID-19: A national study of English primary schools in summer 2020. Health Education Research, 36(3), 272-285. https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyab016

@article{b0922489f94e40dd91450a630b8fbb12,

title = "Implementation of preventive measures to prevent COVID-19: A national study of English primary schools in summer 2020",

abstract = "We examined the feasibility of implementing preventive measures to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission across 105 English primary schools in summer 2020 via a survey and interviews with headteachers. High rates of implementation of most recommended measures were noted with the exception of requiring 2 m distance for students, fitting hand sanitizers in classrooms and introducing one-way systems in school corridors. Measures such as regular handwashing and stopping assemblies were considered easy to implement. Majorly challenging measures included distancing between individuals (for students: 51\%, N 99; for staff: 34\%; N 98; for parents: 26\%, N 100), spacing out desks (34\%, N 99), keeping same staff assigned to each student group (33\%, N 97) and staggering break times (25\%, N 99). Rapid implementation was facilitated by staff commitment and communication among stakeholders, but hampered by limitations with guidance received, physical environments, resources, parental adherence and balancing preventive measures with learning. Difficulties with distancing for younger children suggest that smaller bubbles with fewer distancing requirements within these may be a policy option. Schools require further financial, human resource and other support for effective implementation of preventive measures.",

keywords = "TRANSMISSION, OUTBREAKS, CHILDREN",

author = "Neisha Sundaram and Chris Bonell and Shamez Ladhani and Langan, \{Sin{\'e}ad M.\} and Frances Baawuah and Ifeanychukwu Okike and Shazaad Ahmad and Joanne Beckmann and Joanna Garstang and Brent, \{Bernadette E.\} and Brent, \{Andrew J.\} and Zahin Amin-Chowdhury and Felicity Aiano and James Hargreaves",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by the Department of Health and Social Care, United Kingdom. The funder had no role in the study design, data collection, data analysis and interpretation, writing or the decision to submit this article for publication. Open Access: This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press. Citation: Neisha Sundaram, Chris Bonell, Shamez Ladhani, Sin{\'e}ad M Langan, Frances Baawuah, Ifeanychukwu Okike, Shazaad Ahmad, Joanne Beckmann, Joanna Garstang, Bernadette E Brent, Andrew J Brent, Zahin Amin-Chowdhury, Felicity Aiano, James Hargreaves, Implementation of preventive measures to prevent COVID-19: a national study of English primary schools in summer 2020, Health Education Research, Volume 36, Issue 3, June 2021, Pages 272{\textendash}285, https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyab016 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyab016",

year = "2021",

month = jun,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1093/her/cyab016",

language = "English",

volume = "36",

pages = "272--285",

journal = "Health Education Research",

issn = "0268-1153",

publisher = "Oxford University Press",

number = "3",

}

Sundaram, N, Bonell, C, Ladhani, S, Langan, SM, Baawuah, F, Okike, I, Ahmad, S, Beckmann, J, Garstang, J, Brent, BE, Brent, AJ, Amin-Chowdhury, Z, Aiano, F & Hargreaves, J 2021, 'Implementation of preventive measures to prevent COVID-19: A national study of English primary schools in summer 2020', Health Education Research, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 272-285. https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyab016

TY - JOUR

T1 - Implementation of preventive measures to prevent COVID-19

T2 - A national study of English primary schools in summer 2020

AU - Sundaram, Neisha

AU - Bonell, Chris

AU - Ladhani, Shamez

AU - Langan, Sinéad M.

AU - Baawuah, Frances

AU - Okike, Ifeanychukwu

AU - Ahmad, Shazaad

AU - Beckmann, Joanne

AU - Garstang, Joanna

AU - Brent, Bernadette E.

AU - Brent, Andrew J.

AU - Amin-Chowdhury, Zahin

AU - Aiano, Felicity

AU - Hargreaves, James

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by the Department of Health and Social Care, United Kingdom. The funder had no role in the study design, data collection, data analysis and interpretation, writing or the decision to submit this article for publication. Open Access: This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press. Citation: Neisha Sundaram, Chris Bonell, Shamez Ladhani, Sinéad M Langan, Frances Baawuah, Ifeanychukwu Okike, Shazaad Ahmad, Joanne Beckmann, Joanna Garstang, Bernadette E Brent, Andrew J Brent, Zahin Amin-Chowdhury, Felicity Aiano, James Hargreaves, Implementation of preventive measures to prevent COVID-19: a national study of English primary schools in summer 2020, Health Education Research, Volume 36, Issue 3, June 2021, Pages 272–285, https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyab016 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyab016

PY - 2021/6/1

Y1 - 2021/6/1

N2 - We examined the feasibility of implementing preventive measures to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission across 105 English primary schools in summer 2020 via a survey and interviews with headteachers. High rates of implementation of most recommended measures were noted with the exception of requiring 2 m distance for students, fitting hand sanitizers in classrooms and introducing one-way systems in school corridors. Measures such as regular handwashing and stopping assemblies were considered easy to implement. Majorly challenging measures included distancing between individuals (for students: 51%, N 99; for staff: 34%; N 98; for parents: 26%, N 100), spacing out desks (34%, N 99), keeping same staff assigned to each student group (33%, N 97) and staggering break times (25%, N 99). Rapid implementation was facilitated by staff commitment and communication among stakeholders, but hampered by limitations with guidance received, physical environments, resources, parental adherence and balancing preventive measures with learning. Difficulties with distancing for younger children suggest that smaller bubbles with fewer distancing requirements within these may be a policy option. Schools require further financial, human resource and other support for effective implementation of preventive measures.

AB - We examined the feasibility of implementing preventive measures to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission across 105 English primary schools in summer 2020 via a survey and interviews with headteachers. High rates of implementation of most recommended measures were noted with the exception of requiring 2 m distance for students, fitting hand sanitizers in classrooms and introducing one-way systems in school corridors. Measures such as regular handwashing and stopping assemblies were considered easy to implement. Majorly challenging measures included distancing between individuals (for students: 51%, N 99; for staff: 34%; N 98; for parents: 26%, N 100), spacing out desks (34%, N 99), keeping same staff assigned to each student group (33%, N 97) and staggering break times (25%, N 99). Rapid implementation was facilitated by staff commitment and communication among stakeholders, but hampered by limitations with guidance received, physical environments, resources, parental adherence and balancing preventive measures with learning. Difficulties with distancing for younger children suggest that smaller bubbles with fewer distancing requirements within these may be a policy option. Schools require further financial, human resource and other support for effective implementation of preventive measures.

KW - TRANSMISSION

KW - OUTBREAKS

KW - CHILDREN

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85111966303

U2 - 10.1093/her/cyab016

DO - 10.1093/her/cyab016

M3 - Article

C2 - 33860299

AN - SCOPUS:85111966303

SN - 0268-1153

VL - 36

SP - 272

EP - 285

JO - Health Education Research

JF - Health Education Research

IS - 3

ER -

Implementation of preventive measures to prevent COVID-19: A national study of English primary schools in summer 2020

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this