Contacts and behaviours of university students during the COVID-19 pandemic at the start of the 2020/2021 academic year
In: Scientific Reports, Jg. 11 (2021), Heft 1, S. 1-13
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Zugriff:
Abstract University students have unique living, learning and social arrangements which may have implications for infectious disease transmission. To address this data gap, we created CONQUEST (COroNavirus QUESTionnaire), a longitudinal online survey of contacts, behaviour, and COVID-19 symptoms for University of Bristol (UoB) staff/students. Here, we analyse results from 740 students providing 1261 unique records from the start of the 2020/2021 academic year (14/09/2020–01/11/2020), where COVID-19 outbreaks led to the self-isolation of all students in some halls of residences. Although most students reported lower daily contacts than in pre-COVID-19 studies, there was heterogeneity, with some reporting many (median = 2, mean = 6.1, standard deviation = 15.0; 8% had ≥ 20 contacts). Around 40% of students’ contacts were with individuals external to the university, indicating potential for transmission to non-students/staff. Only 61% of those reporting cardinal symptoms in the past week self-isolated, although 99% with a positive COVID-19 test during the 2 weeks before survey completion had self-isolated within the last week. Some students who self-isolated had many contacts (mean = 4.3, standard deviation = 10.6). Our results provide context to the COVID-19 outbreaks seen in universities and are available for modelling future outbreaks and informing policy.
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Contacts and behaviours of university students during the COVID-19 pandemic at the start of the 2020/2021 academic year
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Autor/in / Beteiligte Person: | Nixon, Emily ; Trickey, Adam ; Christensen, Hannah ; Finn, Adam ; Thomas, Amy ; Relton, Caroline ; Montgomery, Clara ; Hemani, Gibran ; Metz, Jane ; Walker, Josephine G. ; Turner, Katy ; Kwiatkowska, Rachel ; Sauchelli, Sarah ; Danon, Leon ; Brooks-Pollock, Ellen |
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Zeitschrift: | Scientific Reports, Jg. 11 (2021), Heft 1, S. 1-13 |
Veröffentlichung: | Nature Portfolio, 2021 |
Medientyp: | academicJournal |
ISSN: | 2045-2322 (print) |
DOI: | 10.1038/s41598-021-91156-9 |
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