Mitigating COVID-19 Transmission in Schools With Digital Contact Tracing

Abstract

Precision mitigation of COVID-19 is in pressing need for postpandemic time with the absence of pharmaceutical interventions. In this study, the effectiveness and cost of digital contact tracing (DCT) technology-based on-campus mitigation strategy are studied through epidemic simulations using high-resolution empirical contact networks of teachers and students. Compared with traditional class, grade, and school closure strategies, the DCT-based strategy offers a practical yet much more efficient way of mitigating COVID-19 spreading in the crowded campus. Specifically, the strategy based on DCT canachieve the same level of disease control as rigid school suspensions but with significantly fewer students quarantined. We further explore the necessary conditions to ensure the effectiveness of DCT-based strategy and auxiliary strategies to enhance mitigation effectiveness and make the following recommendation: social distancing should be implemented along with DCT, the adoption rate of DCT devices should be assured, and swift virus tests should be carried out to discover asymptomatic infections and stop their subsequent transmissions. We also argue that primary schools have higher disease transmission risks than high schools and, thereby, should be alerted when considering reopenings.

Mobile Applications for the Implementation of Health Control against Covid-19 in Educational Centers, a Systematic Review of the Literature

“…[99]- [102], [104]- [109], [128], [133] Preventive [11], [20]- [22], [28], [42]- [47], [56]- [58], [110]- [122], [134] Tracking [18], [23], [49], [50], [123]- [126], [135] Table VI shows the classification of articles according to the results found. THEMES AND FUNCTIONALITY REFERENCES These articles take into account the parameter of distancing as they focus on creating strategies, and making use of technology, for the prevention of Covid-19, in scenarios where there is no rapprochement of individuals.…”

“…[18], [23], [49], [50], [123]- [126], [135] Fig. 12 shows the number of selected items grouped by database and quality attributes.…”

“…Availability and functionality [12], [25], [30], [31], [34], [35], [38], [48], [56], [63], [69], [74], [77], [79], [82], [88], [92], [105], [112], [115], [117], [120], [128], [133], [136] Availability, functionality, and reliability [24], [40], [66], [73], [80], [87], [100], [114] Availability, functionality, and performance [11], [16], [29], [46], [62], [86], [110] Availability, functionality, and security [37], [44], [58], [64], [95], [122], [137] Functionality [14], [15],…”

“…[12], [25], [30], [31], [34], [35], [38], [48], [56], [63], [69], [74], [77], [79], [82], [88], [92], [105], [112], [115], [117], [120], [128], [133], [136] These articles take into account the quality attributes of availability, functionality and reliability, taking into account this, it will be possible to develop software for sanitary control against Covid-19 with high-quality standards.…”

Online Trajectory Estimation Based on a Network-Wide Cellular Fingerprint Map

“…As an extensive application originating from user localization, real-time and accurate estimation of a cellular-based trajectory is of great significance for urban individual movement monitoring and management nowadays (i.e., infectious disease tracing and screening [12][13][14] and network flow sensing and controlling [15][16][17][18][19][20]), because cellular signaling data can be passively sent back to the cloud systems in real time and contains a wealth of movement information of individual travelers. An online trajectory estimation based on cellular signaling sequences has been widely investigated for years.…”