Table 1.
Number and percentage of Belgian primary and secondary schools that implemented IPC measuresa during December 2020/January 2021, March 2021 and May/June 2021b
| Specific IPC measure | Primary schools | Secondary schools | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M0 N = 43 n (%) |
M3 N = 44 n (%) |
M6 N = 43 n (%) |
M0 N = 40 n (%) |
M3 N = 38 n (%) |
M6 N = 39 n (%) |
|
| IPC measures applied in both primary and secondary schools (16 measures) | ||||||
| Closures (2 measures) | ||||||
| School closure outside holiday breaks | 1 (2) | 3 (7) | 7 (16) | 0 (0) | 3 (8) | 1 (3) |
| Classes suspended | 23 (53) | 19 (43) | 18 (42) | 22 (55) | 13 (34) | 10 (26) |
| Ventilation measures (4 measures) | ||||||
| Classrooms have a CO2 detector | 9 (21) | / | 11 (26) | 3 (8) | / | 4 (10) |
| School has and uses a ventilation system | 9 (21) | / | 4 (9) | 5 (13) | / | 5 (13) |
| Teachers are encouraged to ventilate class rooms regularly | 41 (95) | 42 (95) | 40 (93) | 39 (98) | 38 (100) | 35 (90) |
| Classes take place outside as much as possible | 3 (7) | / | 5 (12) | 2 (5) | / | 6 (16) |
| Hygiene measures (environmental & personal) (5 measures) | ||||||
| Classrooms are cleaned regularly and more frequently than previous school years | 26 (60) | 31 (70) | 31 (72) | 27 (68) | 32 (84) | 29 (74) |
| Staff rooms are cleaned regularly and more frequently than previous school years | 28 (65) | 33 (75) | 32 (74) | 25 (63) | 33 (87) | 29 (74) |
| Toilets are cleaned regularly and more frequently than previous school years | 31 (72) | 40 (91) | 37 (86) | 31 (78) | 38 (100) | 31 (79) |
| Surfaces that are touched regularly are disinfected daily | 33 (77) | 33 (75) | 33 (77) | 33 (83) | 30 (79) | 26 (67) |
| Alcohol gel (or additional possibilities to clean hands) is made available for pupils and staff | 39 (88) | 42 (95) | 40 (93) | 38 (95) | 37 (97) | 37 (95) |
| Physical distancing measures (5 measures) | ||||||
| Breaks are spread to decrease contact between different age groups | 12 (28) | 16 (36) | 13 (30) | 18 (45) | 17 (45) | 9 (23) |
| Number of staff is limited per room | 32 (74) | 35 (80) | 35 (81) | 33 (83) | 30 (79) | 29 (74) |
| Pupils have one fixed place in a fixed classroom | 25 (58) | 32 (73) | 31 (72) | 28 (70) | 30 (79) | 31 (79) |
| Teachers change between classrooms, not the pupils | 22 (51) | 31 (70) | 27 (63) | 28 (70) | 28 (74) | 28 (72) |
| Lunches are taken in the classroom. If this is not possible pupils have a fixed place in the dining area | 36 (84) | 42 (95) | 38 (88) | 34 (85) | 35 (92) | 30 (77) |
| IPC measures applied in primary schools only (3 measures) | ||||||
| Staff wear a mask if sufficient distance cannot be maintained | 34 (79) | 43 (98) | 39 (91) | |||
| Distance is kept during contacts between adults | 38 (88) | 39 (89) | 34 (79) | |||
| Distance is kept during contacts between staff and pupils | 24 (56) | 18 (41) | 24 (56) | |||
| IPC measures applied in secondary schools only (2 measures) | ||||||
| Secondary schools only: Staff and pupils always wear a mask inside | 37 (93) | 36 (95) | 33 (85) | |||
| Secondary schools only: Staff and pupils wear a mask outside unless they can keep sufficient distance | 36 (90) | 37 (97) | 33 (85) | |||
aAll measures, except for closures, are scored on a scale ranging from 1 (not applied at all) to 5 (fully applied). Measures with a score of ‘4’ or ‘5’ are considered ‘implemented’ by the school
bSchools that did not answer to certain measures were considered to not apply these measures. The number of missing school answers are given in Table S2, Supplement II
IPC Infection prevention and control, M0 Data collection period at study month 0, 3 December 2020—28 January 2021, M3 data collection period at study month 3, 1—26 March 2021, M6 data collection period at study month 6, 17 May – 11 June 2021, n (%): absolute number of schools (percentage of schools) that implemented the measure, N number of schools that completed the questionnaire