Minimizing school disruption under high incidence conditions due to the Omicron variant in early 2022

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Abstract

As record cases due to the Omicron variant are currently registered in Europe, schools remain a vulnerable setting suffering large disruption. Extending previous modeling of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in schools in France, we estimate that at high incidence rates reactive screening protocols (as currently applied in France) require comparable test resources as weekly screening (as currently applied in some Swiss cantons), for considerably lower control. Our findings can be used to define incidence levels triggering school protocols and optimizing their cost-effectiveness.

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  1. SciScore for 10.1101/2022.02.04.22270473: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Ethicsnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    No key resources detected.


    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).


    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    Our study has limitations. We did not fit the model to the Omicron wave in a specific country, as we aimed to evaluate protocols’ resources and impact in a range of high incidence conditions experienced across countries in Europe. Nonetheless, the model follows the observed dynamics in France. With remaining uncertainty on Omicron features, we assumed that its higher spreading rate was mainly due to immune evasion12, in line with observations from household studies21. Considering a higher intrinsic transmission led to similar conclusions. We did not consider immunity waning over time, but tested waned vaccine effectiveness. A large demand in tests results from reactively screening schools in high incidence conditions. Comparable resources could be more efficiently used in a proactive screening strategy to mitigate the peak.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.


    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.


    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.


    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.


    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.