COVID-19 Mapping and Mitigation in Schools (CoMMinS)

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This project will create new knowledge and tools to help schools deal with the practical challenges of preventing and coping with an outbreak of COVID-19. The project will test for infection in the school environment and test whether staff and pupils have current or past COVID-19 infection, over a 6-month period. We will test 4000 pupils and 100 staff members monthly. Any positive case identified as part of this study or reported within the city during the study period will be followed up to establish whether the household concerned is connected to a school (via a pupil or member of school staff). If so, we will test the members of the household weekly for 4 weeks to improve our understanding of infection transmission in this setting. We will use staff and pupil postcodes to identify the areas of the city with most infection, so that they can be given targeted support for infection control. We will improve systems for rapid and effective contact tracing, using digital support. We will work with staff, pupils and parents to adapt and use the 'Germ Defence' app to help everyone improve their infection control at school and outside school. Finally, we will assess the impact of returning to school on pupil and staff mental wellbeing, and their attitudes to this project. We will explore what schools are doing to support pupils experiencing difficulties, and assess which activities are most helpful. Our project builds on our team's wide range of very relevant research expertise and a well-established, strong partnership between the University of Bristol and Bristol City Council, Public Health England, local schools and other city stakeholders.