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Characterising COVID-19 school and childcare outbreaks in Canada in 2021: a surveillance study

Kaitlin Patterson1, Erin McGill1, Demy Dam1

  • 1Centre for Emerging and Respiratory Infections and Pandemic Preparedness, Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

BMJ Public Health
|February 28, 2025
PubMed

Insights

COVID-19 outbreaks in Canadian schools and childcare centers in 2021 were low-risk, with minimal hospitalizations or deaths. Surveillance data showed few cases per outbreak and no link to community transmission rates.

Area of Science:

  • Public Health Surveillance
  • Epidemiology
  • Infectious Disease Control

Background:

  • The Public Health Agency of Canada established the Canadian COVID-19 Outbreak Surveillance System in January 2021 to monitor disease outbreaks in various settings.
  • Schools and childcare centers were prioritized due to children's role in respiratory illness transmission.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze COVID-19 outbreak trends in Canadian school and childcare settings from January to December 2021.
  • To assess the impact of public health measures on outbreak dynamics in these settings.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized outbreak data from five Canadian jurisdictions, covering 76% of the population.
  • Generated epidemiological curves, analyzed age distribution of cases, and calculated outbreak sizes.

Main Results:

  • Primary schools accounted for the majority of outbreaks (42%).
  • Severity was low: 0.40% of outbreak cases were hospitalized, and <0.01% deceased.
  • Most outbreaks involved fewer than 10 cases; secondary school outbreaks and cases aged 12+ decreased in Fall 2021.

Conclusions:

  • No association was found between school/childcare outbreaks and community incidence rates.
  • While children are a population of interest for SARS-CoV-2, paediatric severity remained low in 2021.
  • The risk of COVID-19 transmission in Canadian schools was determined to be low during the study period.
Abstract

Keywords:
COVID-19Disease OutbreaksPopulation SurveillancePublic Health

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