Statewide K-12 COVID-19 study begins in Missouri

Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began work in Missouri for one of its first nationwide COVID-19 studies on K-12 students and educators.

Originally proposed to the CDC by the state of Missouri along with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, the study requires in-person work by the CDC and involves gathering COVID-19 test results from individuals within select K-12 schools in the state.

Over a 30 day period, the CDC will be testing students and teachers that it has split into two groups: students considered close contacts at school that wear masks, and students considered a close contact who are required to quarantine for 14 days, regardless of whether they were wearing a mask.

Missouri does not have a statewide mask mandate, instead leaving that power up to individual counties and localized governments.

“So, if the patient who was identified and the student was identified at school, then in one arm of the study, they can still come to school. Now, they will quarantine when they are at home when they leave school,” Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Director Randall Williams said in a news report from Missourinet.

Although the exact number of Missouri schools and where are they are located is being kept confidential until the conclusion of the study, Williams said the results will be published nationally afterward.

Groups involved in conducting the study are epidemiologists at the CDC, Washington University, and St. Louis University.