Control of SARS-CoV-2 Infection Rates at a Spanish University With In-Person Class Attendance

Mario Gil-Conesa; Fares Amer; Silvia Carlos; Arturo H Ariño; Miguel A Martínez-González; Alejandro Fernandez-Montero

doi:10.2105/AJPH.2021.306682

Control of SARS-CoV-2 Infection Rates at a Spanish University With In-Person Class Attendance

Am J Public Health. 2022 Apr;112(4):570-573. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2021.306682.

Authors

Mario Gil-Conesa¹, Fares Amer¹, Silvia Carlos¹, Arturo H Ariño¹, Miguel A Martínez-González¹, Alejandro Fernandez-Montero¹

Affiliation

¹ Mario Gil-Conesa, Fares Amer, Silvia Carlos, and Miguel A. Martínez-González are with the Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Arturo H. Ariño is with the Department of Environmental Biology, and Alejandro Fernandez-Montero is with the Department of Occupational Medicine, University of Navarra, Navarra, Spain.

Abstract

The "Safe Campus Program," implemented in 2020 through 2021 at the University of Navarra (Spain), aimed to guarantee a safe return to university campus and prevent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreaks, avoiding university-wide lockdown. It included COVID-19 education, campus adaptation, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing. We describe the main characteristics of the program and analyze the SARS-CoV-2 cumulative incidence among 14 496 university members. The 14-day cumulative incidence in the university was 415.2 versus 447.7 in the region. The program, sustainable in the long term, achieved low SARS-CoV-2 in-campus rates. (Am J Public Health. 2022;112(4):570-573. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306682.

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / epidemiology
COVID-19* / prevention & control
Communicable Disease Control
Humans
Polymerase Chain Reaction
SARS-CoV-2
Universities