Kinder und COVID-19: Kontaktpersonen-Surveillance in Frankfurter Kitas und Schulen (August bis Dezember 2020)

BACKGROUND: In face of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the question that children are also drivers of this pandemic and that groups, classes, or the entire facility should be closed when severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) occurs in schools or daycare centers is always implied. These questions were investigated using the mandatory reporting data in Frankfurt am Main and the extensive testing of contact persons (CP) in schools and daycare centers after the occurrence of an index case. METHOD: The reporting data were taken from SurvStat. The index cases from daycare centers and schools were isolated and the CPs were offered PCR testing for SARS-CoV‑2 on a voluntary basis, regardless of whether symptoms suggestive of SARS-CoV‑2 had occurred or not. Deep nasal/pharyngeal swabs were collected by paramedics on behalf of the public health department of the city of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and tested according to established standards at two accredited institutes. RESULTS: From March to 31 December 2020, 22,715 COVID-19 cases were reported in Frankfurt, including 1588 (7.6%) SARS-CoV‑2 detections in children 14 years and younger. Thus, approximately half as many SARS-CoV‑2 detections were reported in children up to 14 years of age than would have corresponded to their proportion in the population. In autumn 2020, the increase in incidence in children over the weeks followed the increase in incidence in the general population, the age-related incidence of children remained below the incidence in the general population. From week 35 to week 52, index cases were reported from 143 daycare centers and 75 schools. As a result, 7915 CPs were tested. In daycare centers, SARS-CoV‑2 was detected in 4.5% of adult CPs and 2.5% of child CPs and in schools SARS-CoV‑2 was detected in 0.9% of adult CPs and 2.5% of student CPs tested. On average, less than 1 CP tested positive per index case. The rate of positive findings increased with increasing incidence in the overall population. No major outbreak occurred. DISCUSSION: Regarding the level and timing of age-related incidences among children in Frankfurt am Main, there was no evidence that children were the drivers of the pandemic. Only a small percentage of the examined CPs in schools and daycare centers tested positive for SARS-CoV‑2. In the absence of evidence of intense transmission in the facilities, CP attendance can/should continue under hygiene conditions and there is no need to close entire groups, classes, or even facilities.