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Infection prevention guidelines and considerations for paediatric risk groups when reopening primary schools during COVID-19 pandemic, Norway, April 2020
- Tone Bjordal Johansen1,2 , Elisabeth Astrup1 , Solveig Jore1 , Hege Nilssen3 , Bente Barton Dahlberg3 , Claus Klingenberg4,5 , Are Stuwitz Berg1 , Margrethe Greve-Isdahl1
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View Affiliations Hide AffiliationsAffiliations: 1 The Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway 2 European Public Health Microbiology Training Programme (EUPHEM), European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Stockholm, Sweden 3 The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, Oslo, Norway 4 Paediatric Research Group, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Tromsø-Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway 5 Department of Paediatrics and Adolescence Medicine, University Hospital of North Norway, Tromsø, NorwayTone Bjordal Johansentone.johansen fhi.no
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Citation style for this article: Johansen Tone Bjordal, Astrup Elisabeth, Jore Solveig, Nilssen Hege, Dahlberg Bente Barton, Klingenberg Claus, Berg Are Stuwitz, Greve-Isdahl Margrethe. Infection prevention guidelines and considerations for paediatric risk groups when reopening primary schools during COVID-19 pandemic, Norway, April 2020. Euro Surveill. 2020;25(22):pii=2000921. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.22.2000921 Received: 13 May 2020; Accepted: 04 Jun 2020
Abstract
In response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, most countries implemented school closures. In Norway, schools closed on 13 March 2020. The evidence of effect on disease transmission was limited, while negative consequences were evident. Before reopening, risk-assessment for paediatric risk groups was performed, concluding that most children can attend school with few conditions requiring preventative homeschooling. We here present infection prevention and control guidelines for primary schools and recommendations for paediatric risk groups.
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