Data tracking

Sources reviewed daily

• COVID-19 daily status report, Georgia Department of Public Health (GaDPH)  - includes daily review of cases by state and county, percent positivity, and pediatric cases, hospitalizations, and deaths; Region N hospital patient census and ER/ICU/ventilator usage
• COVID-19 daily report, Cobb and Douglas Public Health
• COVID Act Now, Georgia and Cobb County
• COVID data tracker - county view, CDC
• Georgia Coordinating Center, regional hospital ER and ICU status

Sources reviewed weekly

• COVID-19 reported patient impact and hospital capacity by state timeline, HHS
• School-aged COVID-19 surveillance, Georgia DPH
• COVID-19 vaccine dashboard by county, Georgia DPH
• COVID variant proportions - US and HHS regions, CDC
• COVID case and death demographics in Georgia by age, CDC
• Georgia state profile report for COVID-19, White House COVID-19 task force/HHS
• COVID-19 hospital capacity by county, RGI/HHS
• Investigation of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern: technical briefings and VOC assessments, Public Health England
• The COVID Digest, Amber Schmidtke
• Your local epidemiologist, Katelyn Jetalina
• Osterholm Update from the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP)
• COVID-19 science updates, CDC - a weekly review of newly published COVID-19 research from a variety of national and international scientific journals

Sources reviewed as needed

• COVID-19 mathematical modeling, CDC
• COVID data tracker forecasting by state, CDC
• Coronavirus critical data, Johns Hopkins University (JHU)
• COVID-19 cases and deaths forecasting by state, Los Alamos National Laboratory
• Australian influenza reports (to stay abreast of influenza transmission in anticipation of the US flu season in the fall)
• COVID-19 spread map, Harvard Chan School of Public Health
• Weekly US influenza surveillance, CDC
• COVIDPulse United States novel coronavirus trendlines since March 2020, ESRI
• School risk dashboard, University of Texas COVID-19 Modeling Consortium
• County risk tracker, KINSA HealthWeather
• Georgia COVID-19 overview, JHU
• Weekly forecast summaries by state and county, COVID-19 Forecast Hub
• How full are hospital ICUs near you?, NY Times
• COVID-19 Surveillance dashboard, Helix genomic sequencing
• Partner calls specifically for K-12 school leaders with CDC and CDPH

Historical/archived sources

• Metapopulation AGe-structured epidemiological (MAGE) model for COVID-19 in GA, Weitz Group
• Mapping COVID-19 in your community, Policy Lab at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)
• Risk levels by state, Brown School of Public Health
• COVID-19 event risk assessment tool, Georgia Tech

Masks

Safety

• “Absence of consequential changes in physiological, thermal and subjective responses from wearing a surgical mask.” Roberge et al. Respiratory Physiology & Neurobiology, April 2012, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1569904812000341?via%3Dihub 
• “Shades of emotion: what the addition of sunglasses or masks to faces reveals about the development of facial expression processing.” Roberson et al.  Cognition, August 2012, https://pure.mpg.de/rest/items/item_771569_9/component/file_1527244/content 
• “Return to training in the COVID-19 era: the physiological effects of face masks during exercise.” Epstein et al. Scandinavian Journal of Medical Science in Sports, September 2020, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7646657/ 
• “Mask mythbusters: Common questions about kids & face masks.” Dickinson and Guilbert. Healthy Children (the parent portal from the American Academy of Pediatrics, AAP), last updated August 2021, originally posted in 2020, https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/COVID-19/Pages/Mask-Mythbusters.aspx 
• “Children’s emotion inferences from masked faces: implications for social interactions during COVID-19.” Ruba and Pollak.  PLOS One, December 2020, https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0243708
• “Peripheral oxygen saturation in older persons wearing nonmedical face masks in community settings.” Chan et al. JAMA, December 2020, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2772655 
• “The effects of wearing facemasks on oxygenation and ventilation at rest and during physical activity.” Shein et al.  PLOS One, February 2021, https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0247414 
• “Effect of face masks on gas exchange in healthy persons and patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.” Samannan et al. Annals of the American Thoracic Society, March 2021, https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1513/AnnalsATS.202007-812RL 
• “ ‘You can leave your mask on’: effects on cardiopulmonary parameters of different airway protection masks at rest and during maximal exercise.” Mapelli et al.  European Respiratory Journal, March 2021, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33678608/  
• “Face masks and the cardiorespiratory response to physical activity in health and disease.” Hopkins et al. Annals of the American Thoracic Society, March 2021, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7919154/ 
• “Assessment of respiratory function in infants and young children wearing face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.” Lubrano et al.  JAMA Network Open, March 2021, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2776928 
• “Do masks delay speech and language development?” Healthy Children from the AAP, August 2021, https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/COVID-19/Pages/Do-face-masks-interfere-with-language-development.aspx

Efficacy

• “Aerosol filtration efficiency of common fabrics used in respiratory cloth masks.” American Chemical Society Nano, April 2020, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7185834/ 
• “The role of community-wide wearing of face masks for control of COVID-19 epidemic due to SARS-CoV-2.” Cheng et al. Journal of Infection, April 2020, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7177146/pdf/main.pdf 
• “An evidence review of face masks against COVID-19.” Howard et al. PNAS Jan 2021, https://www.pnas.org/content/118/4/e2014564118. First accessed as a pre-print in May 2020.
• “Cloth masks may prevent transmission of COVID-19: an evidence-based, risk-based approach.” Clase et al. Annals of Internal Medicine, May 2020,  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7277485/pdf/aim-olf-M202567.pdf
• “Face masks for the general public.” DELVE Initiative, May 2020, https://rs-delve.github.io/reports/2020/05/04/face-masks-for-the-general-public.html 
• “SARS-CoV-2 infections and serologic responses from a sample of US Navy service members - USS Theodore Roosevelt, April 2020.” Payne et al, MMWR, June 2020, https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6923e4.htm?s_cid=mm6923e4_e&deliveryName=USCDC_921-DM30202 
• “Physical distancing, face masks, and eye protection to prevent person-to-person transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” Chu et al. The Lancet, June 2020, https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0140-6736%2820%2931142-9 
• “Face masks in the new COVID-19 normal: Materials, testing, and perspectives.” Chua et al. AAAS Research, August 2020, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7429109/pdf/RESEARCH2020-7286735.pdf
• “Low-cost measurement of face mask efficacy for filtering expelled droplets during speech.” Fischer et al. Science Advances, September 2020, https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/36/eabd3083
• “Low-cost enhancement of facial mask filtration to prevent transmission of COVID-19.” Bhimaraju et al. Biometrics and Biostatistics International Journal, October 2020, https://medcraveonline.com/BBIJ/BBIJ-09-00316.pdf. First accessed as a preprint in August 2020. 
• “Cloth masks may prevent transmission of COVID-19: an evidence-based, risk-based approach.” Clase et al. Annals of Internal Medicine, September 2020, https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-2567 
• “Inward and outward effectiveness of cloth masks, a surgical mask, and a face shield.” Pan et al. Aerosol Science and Technology, March 2021, https://ceint.duke.edu/publications/inward-and-outward-effectiveness-cloth-masks-surgical-mask-and-face-shield. First accessed as a preprint in November 2020.
• “Air-filtering masks for respiratory protection from PM2.5 and pandemic pathogens.” Xu et al. Cell One Earth, November 2020, https://www.cell.com/one-earth/pdf/S2590-3322(20)30544-3.pdf 
• “Cloth mask performance.” Colorado State University Center for Energy Development and Health.
• “Effectiveness of mask wearing to control community spread of SARS-CoV-2.” Brooks and Butler.  JAMA Insights, February 2021, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2776536
• “On the effect of age on the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in households, schools, and the community.” Goldstein et al. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, February 2021, https://academic.oup.com/jid/article/223/3/362/5943164 
• “The effect of respiratory activity, noninvasive respiratory support and facemasks on aerosol generation and its relevance to COVID-19.” Wilson et al. Anaesthesia, March 2021, https://associationofanaesthetists-publications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/anae.15475  
• “Efficacy of universal masking for source control and personal protection from simulated cough and exhaled aerosols in a room.” Lindsley et al. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, August 2021, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34161193/. First accessed as a preprint in April 2021.
• “Face masks effectively limit the probability of SARS-CoV-2 transmission.” Cheng et al. Science, June 2021, https://science.sciencemag.org/content/372/6549/1439 
• “Fitted filtration efficiency of double masking during the COVID-19 pandemic.” Sickbert-Bennett et al. JAMA Internal Medicine, April 2021, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2778913
• “Mask use and ventilation improvements to reduce COVID-19 incidence in elementary schools - Georgia - November 16 - December 20, 2020.” Gettings et al. MMWR, May 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7021e1.htm
• “Science brief: Use of cloth masks to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2.” CDC, updated May 7, 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/masking-science-sars-cov2.html - The table in this brief includes 15 studies addressing mask efficacy with additional experimental details and conclusions. 
• “Efficacy of portable air cleaners and masking for reducing indoor exposure to simulated exhaled SARS-CoV-2 aerosols, United States, 2021.” Lindsley et al. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, July 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7027e1.htm

Modeling

• “To mask or not to mask: Modeling the potential for face mask use by the general public to curtail the COVID-19 pandemic.” Eikenberry et al, Infectious Disease Modeling, April 2020, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7186508/  
• “A modelling framework to assess the likely effectiveness of facemasks in combination with ‘lock-down’ in managing the COVID-19 pandemic.” Stutt et al. Proceedings of the Royal Society A Jun 2020, https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspa.2020.0376 
• “The airborne lifetime of small speech droplets and their potential importance in SARS-CoV-2 transmission.” Stadnytskyi et al. PNAS June 2020, https://www.pnas.org/content/117/22/11875
• “Modeling of future COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, by vaccination rates and non-pharmaceutical intervention scenarios - United States - April-September 2021.” Borchering et al.  MMWR, May 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7019e3.htm

Viral transmission and aerosols

• “Temporal dynamics in viral shedding and transmissibility of COVID-19.” He et al.  Nature Medicine, April 2020, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0869-5 
• “Aerosol filtration efficiency of common fabrics used in respiratory cloth masks.” Konda et al. ACS Nano, April 2020, https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsnano.0c03252 
• Comparative dynamics of aerosol efficiency of three emergent coronaviruses and the unusual persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in aerosol suspensions.” Fears et al.  MedRxIv preprint, April 2020, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7217084/ 
• “On airborne transmission and control of SARS-CoV-2.” Yao et al.  Science of the Total Environment, May 2020, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7198171/pdf/main.pdf 
• “The airborne lifetime of small speech droplets and their potential importance in SARS-CoV-2 transmission.” Stadnytski et al. PNAS, June 2020, https://www.pnas.org/content/117/22/11875?referringSource=articleShare 
• “Viewpoint: airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 - theoretical considerations and available evidence.” Klompas et al.  JAMA, July 2020, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2768396 
• “Droplets and aerosols generated by singing and the risk of COVID-19 for choirs.” Bahl et al. Clinical infectious Diseases, September 2020, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7543379/ 
• “Aerosol emission of adolescents' voices during speaking, singing and shouting.” Murbe et al. PLOS One, February 2021, https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0246819
• “Another explanation for why cloth masks reduce COVID-19 severity.” R. Rubin. JAMA Health Agencies Update, March 2021, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2777695
• “The science of masking to control COVID-19.” CDC, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/science-of-masking-full.pdf 

Policy recommendations

• “Face masks for the public during the covid-19 crisis.” Greenhalgh et al, British Medical Journal, April 2020, https://www.bmj.com/content/369/bmj.m1435.long
• “Physical distancing, face masks, and eye protection for the prevention of COVID-19.” MacIntyre and Wang. The Lancet, June 2020, https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0140-6736%2820%2931183-1 
• “Reducing transmission of SARS-CoV-2.” Prather et al. Science, June 2020, https://science.sciencemag.org/content/368/6498/1422?utm_campaign=SciMag&utm_source=JHubbard&utm_medium=Facebook 
• “Coronavirus Q & A: Opening school in the fall.” JAMA Network, June 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3i2RVEuicI (accompanying article here)
• “Report on face masks for the general public - an update.” Royal Society DELVE (Data Evaluation and Learning for Viral Epidemics) working group. May 2020, updated July 2020, https://rs-delve.github.io/addenda/2020/07/07/masks-update.html and https://rs-delve.github.io/reports/2020/05/04/face-masks-for-the-general-public.html 
• “Face masks for children during COVID-19.” Healthy Children (AAP’s parent portal), last updated May 2021, originally posted 2020,https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/COVID-19/Pages/Cloth-Face-Coverings-for-Children-During-COVID-19.aspx
• “COVID-19 and the use of masks by children. Statement from the association of schools of public health in the European region and the European academy of paediatrics.”  Lopes et al. Frontiers in Pediatrics, January 2021, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fped.2021.580150/full 
• “Uniting infectious disease and physical science principles on the importance of face masks for COVID-19.” Gandhi and Marr. Cell Medicine, January 2021, https://www.cell.com/med/pdf/S2666-6340(20)30072-6.pdf 
• “CDC studies underscore continued importance of masks to prevent coronavirus spread.” J. Stephenson.  JAMA Health Forum, February 2021, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2776662 
• ABC North Carolina Science Collaborative final analysis and report, June 2021, https://abcsciencecollaborative.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/ABCs-Final-Report-June-2021.06-esig-DB-KZ-6-29-21.pdf 
• ABC North Carolina Science Collaborative lay summary, June 2021, https://abcsciencecollaborative.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/ABC-LAY-SUMMARY-7.1.21_2.pdf 
• “Hospitalization of adolescents aged 12-17 years with lab-confirmed COVID-19 - COVID-net, 14 states, March 1, 2020 - April 24, 2021.” Havers et al.  MMWR, June 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7023e1.htm?s_cid=mm7023e1_w
• “Fewer COVID-19 cases in schools with masks and improved ventilation.” Kuehn. JAMA News, July 2021, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2781847
• “American Academy of Pediatrics updates recommendations for opening schools in fall 2021.” AAP News, https://services.aap.org/en/news-room/news-releases/aap/2021/american-academy-of-pediatrics-updates-recommendations-for-opening-schools-in-fall-2021/  
• “Face masks.” American Academy of Pediatrics COVID-19 interim guidance, last updated August 2021, https://services.aap.org/en/pages/2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19-infections/clinical-guidance/cloth-face-coverings/ 

Delta variant

Transmission, epidemiology, and biology

• Global lineage reports, PANGO
• “News: COVID-19 Delta variant is now UK’s most dominant strain and spreading through schools.” BMJ, June 2021, https://www.bmj.com/content/373/bmj.n1445?fbclid=IwAR2l3_OBO0JDiTGrHPak2bUVX8oz7MGyTANr-uk7OPPotwDC-rFL7OZfIoI
• “COVID-19: what should we do about B.1.617.2? A classic case of decision making under uncertainty.” Reicher et al. BMJ Opinion, May 2021, https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2021/05/17/covid-19-what-should-we-do-about-b-1-617-2-a-classic-case-of-decision-making-under-uncertainty/ 
• “Public health officials announce more than 80 COVID-19 cases now associated with youth camp outbreak.” Illinois Department of Public Health. June 2021, https://www.dph.illinois.gov/news/public-health-officials-announce-more-80-covid-19-cases-now-associated-youth-camp-outbreak 
• “SARS-CoV-2 B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant COVID-19 outbreak associated with a gymnastics facility - Oklahoma, April-May 2021.” Dougherty et al.  MMWR, July 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7028e2.htm
• “Illness duration and symptom profile in symptomatic UK school-aged children tested for SARS-CoV-2.” Molteni et al.  The Lancet, August 2021, https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S2352-4642%2821%2900198-X 
• “Severe pediatric COVID cases on the rise.” J Roberts. Daily Memphian, August 2021, https://dailymemphian.com/article/23290/severe-pediatric-covid-cases-on-the-rise?fbclid=IwAR1HyA79Gwwfb8_CRItkmZkwM3iAUWwcNf_TywKhttps://dailymemphian.com/article/23290/severe-pediatric-covid-cases-on-the-rise?fbclid=IwAR1HyA79Gwwfb8_CRItkmZkwM3iAUWwcNf_TywKD1An8bsJm_o-mIPh53n4D1An8bsJm_o-mIPh53n4 
• “REACT-1 round 13 final report: exponential growth, high prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 and vaccine effectiveness associated with Delta variant in England during May to July 2021.” Elliott et al.  Imperial College London, August 2021, https://spiral.imperial.ac.uk/handle/10044/1/90800 
• “Rapid increase in circulation of the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant - Mesa County, Colorado, April-June 2021.” Herlihy et al. MMWR, August, 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7032e2.htm 

Vaccine efficacy and breakthrough cases

• “COVID-19 vaccines vs. variants - determining how much immunity is enough.” R. Rubin, JAMA, March 2021, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2777785
• “Coronavirus variants and vaccines.” JAMA Network Learning, April 2021, https://edhub.ama-assn.org/jn-learning/video-player/18599731 
• “SARS-CoV-2 worldwide replication drives rapid rise and selection of mutations across the viral genome: a time-course study - potential challenge for vaccines and therapies.” Weber et al. EMBO Molecular Medicine, April 2021, https://www.embopress.org/doi/epdf/10.15252/emmm.202114062
•  “Infection and vaccine-induced neutralizing-antibody responses to the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.617 variants.” Edara et al. NEJM, August 2021, https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2107799. First accessed as a preprint in May 2021.
• COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough cases for 24 states, Kaiser Family Foundation
• “Despite breakthrough COVID, almost all Georgia cases and deaths are among unvaccinated,” Georgia Public Broadcasting, July 2021
• “COVID-19 breakthrough infections in vaccinated health care workers.” Bergwerk et al. NEJM, July 2021, https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2109072?query=recirc_mostViewed_railB_article
• “Virological and serological kinetics of SARS-CoV-2 Delta-variant vaccine breakthrough infections: a multi-center cohort study.” Chia et al.  MedRxIV, July 2021, https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.28.21261295v1.full.pdf 
• “Outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 infections, including COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough infections, associated with large public gatherings - Barnstable County, MA, July 2021.” Brown et al. MMWR, August 2021,  https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7031e2.htm
• “Household transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from children and adolescents.” Chu et al. NJEM, July 2021,https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2031915  
• “Science brief: Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in K-12 schools.” CDC, updated July 9, 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/transmission_k_12_schools.html
• “Delta variants of SARS-CoV-2 cause significantly increased vaccine breakthrough COVID-19 cases in Houston, TX.” Musser et al.  MedRxIV, August 2021, https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.19.21260808v2.full.pdf 

Policy recommendations

• “Staying ahead of the variants: policy recommendations to identify and manage current and future variants of concern.” JHU Center for Health Security, February 2021, https://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/our-work/pubs_archive/pubs-pdfs/2021/20210216-covid19-variants.pdf 
• “Correspondence: New SARS-CoV-2 variants - clinical, public health, and vaccine implications.” Karim and de Oliveira. New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), May 2021, https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2100362 
• “As schools open, how can we protect our kids from Delta?” T Frieden. Elemental, August 2021, https://elemental.medium.com/as-schools-open-how-can-we-protect-our-kids-from-delta-206cd7a69ccc 
• “School-level COVID-19 modeling results for North Carolina.” NC State University, in collaboration with the Center for Health and Humanitarian Systems at GA Tech, 2021 https://covsim.hosted-wordpress.oit.ncsu.edu/school-level-modeling-results/ 

Vaccines

• “A closer look at each vaccine: COVID-19.” Vaccine Education Center, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, June 2021 https://www.chop.edu/centers-programs/vaccine-education-center/vaccine-details/covid-19-vaccine 
• “SARS-CoV-2 infection in public school district employees following a district-wide vaccination program - Philadelphia County, PA, March 21-April 23, 2021.” MMWR, July 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7030e1.htm
• “Science brief: COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination.” CDC, updated July 27, 2021.  (Includes over 150 cited studies) https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/fully-vaccinated-people.htmlccinated-people.html 
• “COVID-19 vaccine safety in adolescents aged 12-17 years - United States, December 14, 2020 - July 16, 2021.” Hause et al.  MMWR, August 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7031e1.htm
• “Reduced risk of reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 after COVID-19 vaccination - Kentucky May-June 2021.” Cavanaugh et al.  MMWR, August 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7032e1.htm

General mitigation policies, etc.

Primary research and scientific reviews

• In-depth science review, Prevent Epidemics
• “High SARS-CoV-2 attack rate following exposure at a choir practice - Skagit County, Washington, March 2020.” Hamner et al.  MMWR, May 2020, https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6919e6.htm 
• “A large COVID-19 outbreak in a high school 10 days after schools’ reopening, Israel, May 2020.” Stein-Zamir et al. Eurosurveillance, July 2020, https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.29.2001352 
• “Cluster of coronavirus disease associated with fitness dance classes, South Korea.” Jang et al. Emerging Infectious Diseases, August 2020, https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/8/20-0633_article
• “COVID-19 in schools and early childhood education and care services - the Term 3 experience in NSW.” National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, October 2020, https://www.ncirs.org.au/sites/default/files/2020-10/COVID-19%20Transmission%20in%20educational%20settings%20in%20NSW%20Term%203%20report_0.pdf 
• “An outbreak of COVID-19 associated with a recreational hockey game - Florida, June 2020.” Atrubin et al. MMWR, October 2020,  https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6941a4.htm 
• “Adolescent with COVID-19 as the source of an outbreak at a 3-week family gathering - four states, June-July 2020.” Schwartz et al.  MMWR, October 2020,  https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6940e2.htm
• “A meta-analysis on the role of children in SARS-CoV-2 in household transmission clusters.” Zhu et al. Clinical Infectious Diseases, December 2020, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7799195/ 
• “Testing mobile air purifiers in a school classroom: reducing the airborne transmission risk for SARS-CoV-2.” Curtius et al.  Airborne Science and Technology, January 2021, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02786826.2021.1877257 
• “COVID-19 cases and transmission in 17 K-12 schools - Wood County, Wisconsin, August 31-November 29, 2020.” Falk et al. MMWR, January 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7004e3.htm 
• “Identifying COVID-19 risk through observational studies to inform control measures.” Tenforde et al. JAMA Insights, February 2021, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2776937
• “Clusters of SARS-CoV-2 infection among elementary school educators and students in one school district - Georgia, December 2020-January 2021.” Gold et al, MMWR, February 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7008e4.htm
• “In-person schooling and COVID-19 transmission in Canada’s three largest cities.” Assche et al.  MedRXiv, March 2021, https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.03.21.21254064v1
• “Minimal SARS-CoV-2 transmission after implementation of a comprehensive mitigation strategy at a school - New Jersey, August 20 - November 27, 2020.” Volpp et al, MMWR, March 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7011a2.htm  
• “Effectiveness of 3 versus 6 feet of physical distancing for controlling spread of coronavirus disease 2019 among primary and secondary students and staff: a retrospective, statewide cohort study.” van den Berg et al.  Clinical Infectious Diseases, March 2021, https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cid/ciab230/6167856
• “The effect of in-person primary and secondary instruction on county-level COVID-19 spread in Indiana.” Bosslet et al. Clinical Infectious Diseases, April 2021, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8083360/ 
• “A guideline to limit indoor airborne transmission of COVID-19.” Bazant and Bush.  PNAS, April 2021, https://www.pnas.org/content/118/17/e2018995118 
• “Characteristics and disease severity of US children and adolescents diagnosed with COVID-19.” Preston et al. JAMA Network, April 2021, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2778347
• “Incidence and secondary transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infections in schools.”  Zimmerman et al. Pediatrics, April 2021, https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/147/4/e2020048090
• “Implications of the school-household network structure on SARS-CoV-2 transmission under school-reopening strategies in England.” Munday et al.  Nature Communications, 2021, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-22213-0.pdf 
• “Update: Bioaerosol emissions and exposures in the performing arts: a scientific roadmap for a safer return from COVID-19.” Volckens et al. Colorado State University, May 2021, https://smtd.colostate.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/34/2021/06/AerosolStudyPreliminaryResults_05.21.2021.pdf 
• “COVID-19 infections among students and staff in New York City Public Schools.” Varma et al. Pediatrics, May 2021, https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/147/5/e2021050605 
• “Invited commentary: COVID-19 in children - not just little adults.” Schuster and de St. Maurice. JAMA Network Open, June 2021, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2780708
• “Epidemiologic evidence for airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 during church singing, Australia, 2020.” Katelaris et al.  Emerging Infectious Diseases, June 2021, https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/27/6/21-0465_article 
• “Underlying conditions associated with severe COVID-19 illness among children.” Kompaneyets et al.  JAMA Network Open, June 2021, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2780706
• “Assessment of mental health of high school students during social distancing and remote schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic in Austria.” Pieh et al.  JAMA Network Open, June 2021, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2781462
• “Association of age and pediatric household transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection.” Paul et al. JAMA Pediatrics, August 2021.  * Note - the data from this study ended in December 2020 and so does not reflect Delta transmission.

School policies

• “Back-to-school task force Zoom questions and answers.” LeBonheur Children’s Hospital. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SqiIPHKSd00EqTq-oclPsh-JCCLuJQjI/view 
• “Public health response to the initiation and spread of pandemic COVID-19 in the United States, February 24-April 21, 2020.”  Schuchat et al. MMWR, May 2020, https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6918e2.htm 
• “Making decisions in a COVID-19 world.” B Fischhoff.  JAMA, June 2020, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2767028 
• “Returning to play after coronavirus infection: pediatric cardiologists’ perspective.”  Dean et al. American College of Cardiology, July 2020, https://www.acc.org/latest-in-cardiology/articles/2020/07/13/13/37/returning-to-play-after-coronavirus-infection 
• “Returning to K-12 education: using science to keep children, teachers, and staff safe.” American Public Health Association, August 2020, https://www.covid19conversations.org/webinars/k-12-education 
• “COVID-19 Guidance for Safe Schools.” AAP. https://services.aap.org/en/pages/2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19-infections/clinical-guidance/covid-19-planning-considerations-return-to-in-person-education-in-schools/ 
• “Risk assessment and testing protocols for reducing SARS-CoV-2 transmission in K-12 schools.” Rivers et al.  Duke Center for Health Policy and JHU Center for Health Security. https://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/our-work/pubs_archive/pubs-pdfs/2020/20201014-Risk-Assessment-and-Testing-Protocols-for-Reducing-SARS-CoV-2-Transmission-in-K-12-Schools.pdf 
• “Data and policy to guide opening schools safely to limit the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection.” Honein et al. JAMA Viewpoint, January 2021, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2775875 
• “COVID-19 trends among persons aged 0-24 years - United States, March 1 - December 12, 2020.” Leidman et al. MMWR, January 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7003e1.htm 
• “The experience of 2 independent schools with in-person learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.” Gillespie et al. Journal of School Health, March 2021, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/josh.13008 
• “Indoor air exchanges and potential implications for SARS-CoV-2 transmission.” Allen and Ibrahim.  JAMA Insights, April 2021, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2779062
• “Mask use and ventilation improvements to reduce COVID-19 incidence in elementary schools - Georgia, November 16-December 11, 2020.” Gettings et al.  MMWR, May 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7021e1.htm 
• “Household COVID-19 risk and in-person schooling.” Lessler et al.  Science, June 2021, https://science.sciencemag.org/content/372/6546/1092 
• “Return to play after COVID-19 infection in children.” Thomspon and Kelly.”  JAMA Pediatrics, June 2021, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2781110
• “Guidance for in-person education in K-12 educational settings.” PolicyLab at CHOP, July 2021, https://policylab.chop.edu/sites/default/files/pdf/publications/PolicyLab-Guidance-In-person-Education-K-12-Educational-Settings-Fall-2021.pdf 
• “Guidance for implementing COVID-19 prevention strategies in the context of varying community transmission levels and vaccination coverage.” Christie et al. MMWR, July 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/pdfs/mm7030e2-H.pdf