Fast school closures correspond with a lower rate of COVID-19 incidence and deaths in most countries
School closures have been used as one of the main nonpharmaceutical interventions to overcome the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Different countries use this intervention with a wide range of time intervals from the date of the first confirmed case or death. This study aimed to investigate whether fast or la...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Informatics in Medicine Unlocked |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352914821002720 |
| _version_ | 1818352667006599168 |
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| author | Zahra Liyaghatdar Zahra Pezeshkian Manijeh Mohammadi-Dehcheshmeh Esmaeil Ebrahimie |
| author_facet | Zahra Liyaghatdar Zahra Pezeshkian Manijeh Mohammadi-Dehcheshmeh Esmaeil Ebrahimie |
| author_sort | Zahra Liyaghatdar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | School closures have been used as one of the main nonpharmaceutical interventions to overcome the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Different countries use this intervention with a wide range of time intervals from the date of the first confirmed case or death. This study aimed to investigate whether fast or late school closures affect the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases or deaths. A worldwide population-based observational study has been conducted and a range of attributes were weighted using 10 attribute weighting models against the normalized number of infected cases or death in the form of numeric, binominal and polynomial labels. Statistical analysis was performed for the most weighted and the most common attributes of all types of labels. By the end of March 2021, the school closure data of 198 countries with at least one COVID-19 case were available. The days before the first school closure were one of the most weighted factors in relation to the normalized number of infected cases and deaths in numeric, binomial, and quartile forms. The average of days before the first school closure in the lowest quartile to highest quartile of infected cases (Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4) was −6.10 [95% CI, −26.5 to 14.2], 9.35 [95% CI, 2.16 to 16.53], 17.55 [95% CI, 5.95 to 29.15], and 16.00 [95% CI, 11.69 to 20.31], respectively. In addition, 188 countries reported at least one death from COVID-19. The average of the days before the first school closure in the lowest quartile of death to highest quartile (Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4) was −49.4 [95% CI, −76.5 to −22.3], −10.34 [95% CI, −30.12 to 9.44], −18.74 [95% CI, −32.72 to −4.77], and −12.89 [95% CI, −27.84 to 2.06], respectively. Countries that closed schools faster, especially before the detection of any confirmed case or death, had fewer COVID-19 cases or deaths per million of the population on total days of involvement. It can be concluded that rapid prevention policies are the main determinants of the countries' success. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T18:57:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3e1028f6493e4d2387861666b789abeb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2352-9148 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T18:57:16Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Informatics in Medicine Unlocked |
| spelling | doaj.art-3e1028f6493e4d2387861666b789abeb2022-12-21T23:34:46ZengElsevierInformatics in Medicine Unlocked2352-91482021-01-0127100805Fast school closures correspond with a lower rate of COVID-19 incidence and deaths in most countriesZahra Liyaghatdar0Zahra Pezeshkian1Manijeh Mohammadi-Dehcheshmeh2Esmaeil Ebrahimie3Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran; Corresponding author.Department of Animal Sciences, University of Guilan, Rasht, IranSchool of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, 5371, Australia; Institute of Biotechnology, Shiraz University, Shiraz, IranLa Trobe Genomics Research Platform, School of Life Sciences, College of Science, Health and Engineering, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, 3086, Australia; Institute of Biotechnology, Shiraz University, Shiraz, IranSchool closures have been used as one of the main nonpharmaceutical interventions to overcome the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Different countries use this intervention with a wide range of time intervals from the date of the first confirmed case or death. This study aimed to investigate whether fast or late school closures affect the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases or deaths. A worldwide population-based observational study has been conducted and a range of attributes were weighted using 10 attribute weighting models against the normalized number of infected cases or death in the form of numeric, binominal and polynomial labels. Statistical analysis was performed for the most weighted and the most common attributes of all types of labels. By the end of March 2021, the school closure data of 198 countries with at least one COVID-19 case were available. The days before the first school closure were one of the most weighted factors in relation to the normalized number of infected cases and deaths in numeric, binomial, and quartile forms. The average of days before the first school closure in the lowest quartile to highest quartile of infected cases (Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4) was −6.10 [95% CI, −26.5 to 14.2], 9.35 [95% CI, 2.16 to 16.53], 17.55 [95% CI, 5.95 to 29.15], and 16.00 [95% CI, 11.69 to 20.31], respectively. In addition, 188 countries reported at least one death from COVID-19. The average of the days before the first school closure in the lowest quartile of death to highest quartile (Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4) was −49.4 [95% CI, −76.5 to −22.3], −10.34 [95% CI, −30.12 to 9.44], −18.74 [95% CI, −32.72 to −4.77], and −12.89 [95% CI, −27.84 to 2.06], respectively. Countries that closed schools faster, especially before the detection of any confirmed case or death, had fewer COVID-19 cases or deaths per million of the population on total days of involvement. It can be concluded that rapid prevention policies are the main determinants of the countries' success.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352914821002720COVID-19Attributes weightingFast school closurePrevention policies |
| spellingShingle | Zahra Liyaghatdar Zahra Pezeshkian Manijeh Mohammadi-Dehcheshmeh Esmaeil Ebrahimie Fast school closures correspond with a lower rate of COVID-19 incidence and deaths in most countries Informatics in Medicine Unlocked COVID-19 Attributes weighting Fast school closure Prevention policies |
| title | Fast school closures correspond with a lower rate of COVID-19 incidence and deaths in most countries |
| title_full | Fast school closures correspond with a lower rate of COVID-19 incidence and deaths in most countries |
| title_fullStr | Fast school closures correspond with a lower rate of COVID-19 incidence and deaths in most countries |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fast school closures correspond with a lower rate of COVID-19 incidence and deaths in most countries |
| title_short | Fast school closures correspond with a lower rate of COVID-19 incidence and deaths in most countries |
| title_sort | fast school closures correspond with a lower rate of covid 19 incidence and deaths in most countries |
| topic | COVID-19 Attributes weighting Fast school closure Prevention policies |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352914821002720 |
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