NCT04531254

Back to School COVID-19 Simulation Study

Understanding the Impact of Public Health Measures Planned for School Reopening During COVID-19 Using Simulation Exercises

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 174 (actual)
• Sponsor: The Hospital for Sick Children · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 4 Years – 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This will be a prospective study simulating return to school for two full days prior to the start of the school year in September. Volunteer students and teachers from six grade ranges will be recruited to participate in the study. In each grade range, there will be two classes that will participate, one that will be assigned to wear face masks/coverings at all times (experimental group/class) and the other that will not wear face masks/coverings at all times (control group/class). Students will be randomized to either the masking at all times (experimental across all grades) or no masking (control across JK-Grade 4) / masking only when physical distance can be maintained (control across Grade 5-Grade 12) class in their appropriate grade. Personal behaviours and person-to-person interactions will be recorded using video cameras. In addition, a safe biological indicator will be applied to the hands to simulate potential asymptomatic infection in a subset of students. Other students will have sanitizer applied so that students are blinded to who has the indicator. Cameras will be used to document how the indicator moves throughout the classroom.

Detailed description

Grade ranges will include 1) Senior Kindergarten (children who have just completed JK or SK in the 2019-2020 year), 2) Grades 1-2, 3) Grades 3-4, 4) Grades 5-6, 5) Grades 7-8 and 6) high school. A total of 14 teachers and up to 240 students will be recruited. Final class sizes will be in accordance with Ministry of Education and public health guidelines.

Conditions

• Covid19
• Schools

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Wearing a face mask at all times	Children in this group will be asked to wear a face mask in the classroom and common areas during the simulation

Timeline

• Start date: 2020-08-10
• Primary completion: 2020-08-31
• Completion: 2020-08-31
• First posted: 2020-08-28
• Last updated: 2022-11-30

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Canada