COVID-19 spiked in US counties where universities held in-person classes

Counties in the United States with large colleges or universities that held in-person learning experienced a more than 50% increase in cases of COVID-19, whereas those with remote learning saw a decline in cases, researchers reported.

Andrew J. Leidner, PhD, an economist for the CDC COVID-19 Response Team, and colleagues used the National Center for Educational Statistics’ Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System to identify not-for-profit baccalaureate degree-granting colleges and universities with at least 20,000 students.

Their analysis included 101 U.S. counties — those in which classes began between July 27 and Aug. 28. They compared county-level mean estimates of COVID-19 incidence, testing rates, percentages of test positivity and hotspot status in counties with remote instruction (22) to those with in-person instruction (79).

According to the study, in the first 21 days of classes, testing increased by 14.1% compared with the 21 days before the beginning of class in counties with in-person learning. It increased by 4.2% in counties with remote learning.

The authors also reported that mean test positivity decreased by 1.8% in counties with remote learning, whereas it increased by 1.1% in counties that held in-person instruction.

COVID-19 incidence increased by 56.2% in counties with in-person instruction, compared with a decrease of 17.9% in counties with remote learning, Leidner and colleagues reported.

In a second study, Kristyn E. Vang, MPH, an epidemiologist for the Arkansas Department of Health, and colleagues found that a rapid increase in COVID-19 cases at an unnamed university in Arkansas was linked with congregate living settings and activities, mostly associated with pledging fraternities and sororities.

A total of 965 COVID-19 cases occurred in the first 2 weeks of class, including 699 (72%) confirmed and 266 (28%) probable cases, the researchers reported. Most (70%) patients were women and almost all (97%) were aged 18 to 24 years. Five cases occurred among faculty or staff members.

Among the patients, 5% received in-class instruction, 31% participated in either a fraternity or sorority activity and 15% lived in either a fraternity or sorority house. An analysis linked 565 (59%) cases to 56 residences, which included 16 dormitories, 20 apartments and houses and 20 fraternity or sorority houses, Vang and colleagues said.

Of the 565 cases, 471 (83%) were linked to one large, linked cluster, and the others to eight smaller, unlinked gatherings. Of these, 54 gatherings were detected, which included 27 gatherings (50%) that included at least five individuals with COVID-19 cases.

Among individuals in 44 (81%) of the gatherings, at least one individual attended in-person classes, and at least one person at each of the 49 gatherings (91%) reported participating in a fraternity or sorority activity. Gatherings included an average of 20.3 cases.

References:

Leidner AJ, et al. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2021;doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm7001a4.

Vang KE, et al. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2021;doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm7001a5.