COVID-19 surveillance in the Flemish school system: development of systematic data collection within the public health school system and descriptive analysis of cases reported between October 2020 and June 2021

Abstract Background The age-specific distribution of SARS-CoV-2 cases in schools is not well described. Reported statistics reflect the intensity of community transmission while being shaped by biases from age-dependent testing regimes, as well as effective age-specific interventions. A case surveillance system was introduced within the Flemish school and health-prevention network during the 2020–2021 school year. We present epidemiological data of in-school reported cases in pre-, primary and secondary schools identified by the case surveillance system, in conjunction with test data and commu... Mehr ...