Effect of Returning University Students on COVID-19 Infections in England, 2020

David Leeman; Joe Flannagan; Dimple Chudasama; Kyle Dack; Charlotte Anderson; Gavin Dabrera; Theresa Lamagni

doi:10.3201/eid2807.212332

Effect of Returning University Students on COVID-19 Infections in England, 2020

David Leeman^*, Joe Flannagan, Dimple Chudasama, Kyle Dack, Charlotte Anderson, Gavin Dabrera, Theresa Lamagni

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

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Abstract

Each September in England, ≈1 million students relocate to study at universities. To determine COVID-19 cases and outbreaks among university students after their return to university during the COVID pandemic in September 2020, we identified students with COVID-19 (student case-patients) by reviewing contact tracing records identifying attendance at university and residence in student accommodations identified by matching case-patients' residential addresses with national property databases. We determined COVID-19 rates in towns/cities with and without a university campus. We identified 53,430 student case-patients during September 1-December 31, 2020, which accounted for 2.7% of all cases during this period. Student case-patients increased rapidly after the start of the term, driven initially by cases and outbreaks in student accommodations. Case rates among students 18-23 years of age doubled at the start of term in towns with universities. Our findings highlight the need for face-to-face and control measures to reduce virus transmission.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1366-1374
Number of pages	9
Journal	Emerging Infectious Diseases
Volume	28
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2807.212332
Publication status	Published - 1 Jul 2022

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© 2022 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). All rights reserved.

Keywords

COVID-19/epidemiology
Humans
Pandemics/prevention & control
SARS-CoV-2
Students
Universities

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10.3201/eid2807.212332Licence: CC BY

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This is the final published version of the article (version of record). It fir appeared online via CDC at https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/28/7/21-2332_article . Please refer to any applicable terms of use of the publisher.
Final published version, 2.3 MBLicence: CC BY

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title = "Effect of Returning University Students on COVID-19 Infections in England, 2020",

abstract = "Each September in England, ≈1 million students relocate to study at universities. To determine COVID-19 cases and outbreaks among university students after their return to university during the COVID pandemic in September 2020, we identified students with COVID-19 (student case-patients) by reviewing contact tracing records identifying attendance at university and residence in student accommodations identified by matching case-patients' residential addresses with national property databases. We determined COVID-19 rates in towns/cities with and without a university campus. We identified 53,430 student case-patients during September 1-December 31, 2020, which accounted for 2.7% of all cases during this period. Student case-patients increased rapidly after the start of the term, driven initially by cases and outbreaks in student accommodations. Case rates among students 18-23 years of age doubled at the start of term in towns with universities. Our findings highlight the need for face-to-face and control measures to reduce virus transmission.",

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AU - Flannagan, Joe

AU - Chudasama, Dimple

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AU - Anderson, Charlotte

AU - Dabrera, Gavin

AU - Lamagni, Theresa

PY - 2022/7/1

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N2 - Each September in England, ≈1 million students relocate to study at universities. To determine COVID-19 cases and outbreaks among university students after their return to university during the COVID pandemic in September 2020, we identified students with COVID-19 (student case-patients) by reviewing contact tracing records identifying attendance at university and residence in student accommodations identified by matching case-patients' residential addresses with national property databases. We determined COVID-19 rates in towns/cities with and without a university campus. We identified 53,430 student case-patients during September 1-December 31, 2020, which accounted for 2.7% of all cases during this period. Student case-patients increased rapidly after the start of the term, driven initially by cases and outbreaks in student accommodations. Case rates among students 18-23 years of age doubled at the start of term in towns with universities. Our findings highlight the need for face-to-face and control measures to reduce virus transmission.

AB - Each September in England, ≈1 million students relocate to study at universities. To determine COVID-19 cases and outbreaks among university students after their return to university during the COVID pandemic in September 2020, we identified students with COVID-19 (student case-patients) by reviewing contact tracing records identifying attendance at university and residence in student accommodations identified by matching case-patients' residential addresses with national property databases. We determined COVID-19 rates in towns/cities with and without a university campus. We identified 53,430 student case-patients during September 1-December 31, 2020, which accounted for 2.7% of all cases during this period. Student case-patients increased rapidly after the start of the term, driven initially by cases and outbreaks in student accommodations. Case rates among students 18-23 years of age doubled at the start of term in towns with universities. Our findings highlight the need for face-to-face and control measures to reduce virus transmission.

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KW - Humans

KW - Pandemics/prevention & control

KW - SARS-CoV-2

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JO - Emerging Infectious Diseases

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ER -

Effect of Returning University Students on COVID-19 Infections in England, 2020

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