Teachers are not at an increased risk of contracting Covid in the classroom, says a New Zealand study.

However, it has taken us some time to catch up with this thinking — and as a result, there have been numerous calls to close our schools.

Reassuringly, research from Scotland discovered that teachers were not at an increased risk of severe Covid-19 infection or hospitalization during the previous academic year.

As a result, they are no more vulnerable than the general population to develop severe Covid.

According to a study conducted by Glasgow University in partnership with Public Health Scotland, neither teachers nor their families were at an increased risk of severe Covid or hospitalization as compared to other working-age persons.

It appears to confirm previous research.

However, this study compares the risk among teachers and their families to healthcare workers and working people for the first time between March 2020 and July 2021, when the Delta variant was circulating.

The risk of hospitalization was actually roughly 50% lower in teachers and their families than in the general population.

However, this risk was nearly fourfold greater for healthcare workers and nearly twice as great for their families.

During the first full school year – autumn term 2020 – the risk of hospitalization for teachers climbed approximately 2.4-fold, reaching a level comparable to the general population.

In the summer term of 2021, when schools were also open and the Scottish population was being vaccinated, the rise was somewhat less than 1.7-fold.

Additionally, the study discovered that neither teachers nor their families were at an increased risk of severe Covid-19 during the 2020-21 study period.

Professor David McAllister of Glasgow University and lead author, said:

“What we can say, is that while schools were open, teachers’ risk of ­hospitalisation with Covid-19 was about average when compared to that of other working-age people in Scotland who were similar in terms of age, sex, and known underlying medical conditions.

“This was also true during the recent spike of infections due to the Delta variant which occurred when schools were fully open.

“Together with the finding that teachers were at lower risk of severe Covid-19, and that people who shared a household with teachers were not at increased risk, this is likely to be broadly reassuring for people involved in face-to-face teaching.”

The majority of educators vaccinated rationally during the Delta spike.

Image Credit: Getty

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