A major study has revealed that teachers are not more likely to be killed by Covid than any other worker, according to a new report.
Researchers at the University of Bristol found school staff — including teachers and school assistants — aged under 64-years-old faced no more risk of dying from the virus compared to people in other jobs.
Researchers found that the number of deaths in female teachers during the initial nine months of pandemic was less than five-years average, and the rate among male teachers was the same as the anticipated.
There were however a lot of deaths among seniors who worked in schools. Researchers found that only 33% of extra deaths certificates listed Covid in the cause. This suggests other causes.
Experts said that governments should consider the study published in BMJ Open when considering whether or not to close schools during future coronavirus pandemics.
The team stated that employees were not at risk of dying in comparison to other professions.
Covid struck Britain last March and caused schools to close for many months. This forced students to take their classes online, while exams were cancelled.
But the children of key workers — such as frontline health and social care staff — and vulnerable pupils were allowed to attend school as usual.
Over a million students were absent over the summer, even after schools had reopened. This was despite rules that required students to be isolated if they became infected or tested positive.
Teachers complained about the risk of the virus, and demanded schools be closed before the government required it.
However, a number of researches and data from the real world have proven that teachers are less likely to get a Covid infection, be diagnosed with a deadly disease or receive hospitalization.
A major study has revealed that teachers are not more likely to be killed by Covid than any other worker, according to a new report. Pictured: A teacher during the Covid epidemic
This graph displays the number of Covid-related deaths for every 100,000 schoolmen during the initial nine months of this pandemic. The virus mortality rate among female teachers was 10. This compares to the nine-to-50 per 100,000 range for other occupations.
Here is the graph showing the Covid death rate per 100,000 school-going women during the initial nine months of this pandemic. There were 39 deaths from the coronavirus among secondary male teachers, as compared with a range between 10 and 143 in other professions.
The Bristol team analysed death data for working adults aged 20 to 64 — published by the Office for National Statistics — between March 8 and December 28 last year.
They wanted to calculate the risk of dying from Covid among teachers — many of whom continued to work in-person throughout lockdowns — compared to other occupations.
The researchers discovered that the covid mortality rates for people who work in schools were much lower than other professions.
There were a variety of death rates in the sector, from 10 for 100,000 primary school teachers females to 39 for 100,000 secondary school teachers males.
For comparison, rates among other professions — which the team did not name — were between nine and 50 per 100,000 women and 10 and 143 per 100,000 men.
The death rate of female teachers during the nine-months prior to the pandemic was less than that for the average five-year period, while the number of deaths in male teachers was comparable to that five-year-old average.
Although the researchers discovered that there were more teaching assistant deaths than was expected, they noted uncertainty surrounding this information.
The team discovered that there were significant excesses of deaths among older school personnel, compared to the five-year average.
According to the researchers, only 33% of additional deaths could be attributed to Covid.
Study suggests that the remaining deaths might have occurred because of delayed treatment for other pandemic-related conditions.
The researchers suggested that the death rate of older workers may be higher because they were unable to access the NHS or the hospital during the pandemic.
Sarah Lewis is a university molecular epidemiologist and the lead author of the study. She said that teachers, teaching assistants and lunchtime helpers aged 20 to 64 years were not at higher risk for death due to Covid in the 2020 pandemic. This was in contrast to England’s working-age population.
“There were no strong evidence to suggest that Covid poses a risk for death for secondary school teachers, but the overall mortality risks for all school employees and for other occupations was comparable to non-Covid deaths.”