Unvaccinated, unmasked California teacher spread COVID-19 to 50% of class, CDC study finds

STATEN ISLAND, NY – A teacher at an unvaccinated, unmasked California elementary school in Marin, Calif., Has spread the coronavirus (COVID-19) to half of her class, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to study, highlighting the virulence of the delta variant which has caused a spike in national cases.

The outbreak occurred in late May after an anonymous teacher reported showing symptoms on May 19. She reportedly continued to work for two more days before receiving a COVID-19 test, according to the study. During this time, the teacher read aloud, without a mask, to the class despite the school requiring masks inside.

Between May 23 and May 26, the teacher’s 24 students – 22 of whom are not eligible to receive the vaccine due to their age – were tested for COVID-19. Twelve students received positive tests, with 80 percent of those results coming from students sitting in the first two rows closest to the teacher’s desk, according to the study.

Currently the children less than 12 years currently cannot be vaccinated.

Four children outside the classroom, all siblings of students in the unvaccinated teacher’s class, also tested positive for COVID-19. In addition, four parents of students in the class were infected.

Six students from a different grade at the school also tested positive after a student hosted a sleepover with two other students in the same class, the CDC said.

While vaccines have seen their effectiveness diminished against the delta variant compared to the original strain that started the pandemic, experts and studies show that vaccines remain highly effective in preventing serious illness and death.

The contagiousness of the delta variant has led to findings that people vaccinated could carry a sufficient viral load to spread the virus. Yet the CDC said that “the risk of transmission remains high among unvaccinated people in schools without strict adherence to prevention strategies.”

The agency said the study highlighted the importance of vaccination among eligible staff members to protect students ineligible for vaccination.

“In addition to vaccinating eligible people, strict adherence to non-pharmaceutical prevention strategies, including masking, routine testing, ventilation of facilities, and staying home in the event of symptoms, are important to ensure safe in-person learning in schools, ”the CDC said.

New York City requires every employee of the City’s Department of Education for public schools receive at least one dose of the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine by the end of September. The warrant removes the testing option for school staff that currently allows city workers to be fully vaccinated or to be tested for weekly coronavirus.

On Thursday, Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter unveiled a 13 page manual outlining the policies and procedures families can expect to see this year as all students prepare to return to their classrooms for in-person instruction.

All students and staff must wear a mask anywhere on school property, whether indoors or outdoors, regardless of immunization status. Wearing a mask will also be compulsory on all school buses.