ECDC endorses “test to stay” model for EU schools in latest Rapid Risk Assessment pandemic update

In the U.S., CDC claims they do “not have enough evidence” to recommend the strategy

The Stockholm-based European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has endorsed the “test to stay” strategy — a coronavirus testing policy where asymptomatic close contacts can escape quarantine if they repeatedly test negative — in its latest Rapid Risk Assessment report on the state of the pandemic in the European Union. The strategy is already used by some European countries and United States school systems.

The ECDC notes that the increasingly popular coronavirus mitigation measure could “be considered in an attempt to minimise disruption and school absenteeism in school settings while also limiting opportunities for further transmission.”

Rapid Risk Assessment: Assessing SARS-CoV-2 circulation, variants of concern, non-pharmaceutical interventions and vaccine rollout in the EU/EEA, 16th update

To support their recommendation, ECDC cited an English study which found very few close contacts — just about 2% — tested positive after exposure in the school setting and recommended “daily contact testing” as “a safe alternative to home isolation in school-based contacts.”

Overall, this study shows that in secondary schools and colleges of further education, student and staff infection following contact with an…