Sweden Kept Schools Open and Safe

Despite Sweden having kept schools and preschools open during the pandemic, researchers found a low incidence of severe COVID-19 among schoolchildren and preschool-age children during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Among the 1.95 million children who were 1 to 16 years of age, this study reported 15 children had COVID-19, or a multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), or both conditions and were admitted to an ICU, equal to 1 child in 130,000.

Published by The NEJM on January 6, 2021, this study followed all children who were admitted to an ICU between March 1 and June 30, 2020, with laboratory-verified or clinically verified COVID-19, including patients who were admitted for MIS-C, according to the Swedish Pediatric Rheumatology Quality Register.

Data from the Public Health Agency of Sweden showed fewer than 10 preschool teachers and 20 schoolteachers received intensive care for COVID-19 until June 30, 2020 (equal to 19 per 100,000).