School closures should be used as a last resort to control the spread of Covid-19 according to researchers as a new study found there was a limited spread of the virus in schools in Ireland during the pandemic.
However, it noted that other research had indicated that the spread of Covid-19 in school settings had lower levels of transmission than in the general population. The study identified 21,727 confirmed cases in 5-18-year-olds in Ireland during the 2020-21 school year, representing 2.4% of that age cohort.
The highest rate was recorded in special schools at 3.4% and the lowest in post-primary schools at 1.8% with primary schools recording a rate of 2.5%. The study said making direct comparisons between its findings and the results of international studies was challenging although the close contact positivity rate in Ireland was consistent with the findings of similar research conducted in Norway, Italy, Germany, Australia and the US.