Renfrewshire teachers were not at increased risk of severe Covid-19 during 2020-21 academic year, a new study has found.
Led by the University of Glasgow, the study found that Scots teachers and people in their households were not at increased risk of suffering severe symptoms of Covid-19 or hospitalisation despite being in close contact with several children and adults daily.
The study - which compared the risks facing teachers with similar adults of working age in the general population - comes as covid cases in local schools continues to soar.
Researchers looked at data from March 2020 to July 2021, when the delta variant was circulating and covers periods when schools were fully opened and when they were fully or partially closed.
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After adjusting for factors such as age, sex, ethnicity, underlying medical conditions and deprivation, the results show thatwhen schools reopened in the autumn of 2020, the risk of hospital admission increased by around 2.4-fold, reaching a similar level to that in the general population.
At that time four in every five Renfrewshire schools had recorded a positive Covid-19 case.
The local authority area was then - according to Public Health Scotland - one of only three in the country to have at least 50 per cent of its schools have one or more pupil test positive for the virus.
And in summer term of 2021 - when schools were also open and half of all schools in the region had either a pupil or member of staff test positive for the virus - a smaller increase of around 1.7-fold was seen.
This too was in line with the general population and reflected the roll out of the Covid-19 vaccine.
When schools were closed the risk to teachers was 50 per cent less than the rest of the population.
Professor David McAllister, the lead author of the study, said: “What we can say, is that while schools were open, teacher’s risk of hospitalisation with Covid-19 was about average when compared to that of other working-age people in Scotland.
“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 research comes just days after Scotland’s biggest teaching union, the Educational Institute of Scotland called for all secondary school children to be vaccinated against the virus and for stringent safety measures to remain in place.
Speaking as covid cases in schools continue to soar, EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan said: “The EIS believes the change in contact tracing arrangements for schools is creating confusion for parents, pupils and staff.
“We wish to see all pupils identified as close contacts being required to get a clear PCR test before returning to class.
“This removes the 10 day self-isolation requirement but offers a quick reassurance to school communities and will reduce the risk of in-school transmission.
“We also support the Scottish Government position of wishing to see all secondary pupils offered the possibility of vaccination, which will help minimise disruption to education.”
