• Franziska Hommes, Welmoed van Loon, Marlene Thielecke, Igor Abramovich, Sascha Lieber, Ralf Hammerich, Sabine Gehrke-Beck, Elisabeth Linzbach, Angela Schuster, Katja von dem Busche, Stefanie Theuring, Maximilian Gertler, MartinezGabriela EquihuaGEInstitute of Tropical Medicine and International Health, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 13353 Berlin, Germany., Joachim Richter, Clara Bergmann, Alisa Bölke, Falko Böhringer, Marcus A Mall, Alexander Rosen, Alexander Krannich, Jan Keller, Norma Bethke, Marco Kurzmann, Tobias Kurth, Valerie Kirchberger, Joachim Seybold, Frank P Mockenhaupt, and Becoss Study Group.
• Institute of Tropical Medicine and International Health, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 13353 Berlin, Germany.
• Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Mar 8; 18 (5).

AbstractBriefly before the first peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Berlin, Germany, schools closed in mid-March 2020. Following re-opening, schools resumed operation at a reduced level for nine weeks. During this phase, we aimed at assessing, among students and teachers, infection status, symptoms, individual behaviour, and institutional infection prevention measures. Twenty-four primary and secondary school classes, randomly selected across Berlin, were examined. Oro-nasopharyngeal swabs and capillary blood samples were collected to determine SARS-CoV-2 infection (PCR) and specific IgG (ELISA), respectively. Medical history, household characteristics, leisure activities, fear of infection, risk perception, hand hygiene, facemask wearing, and institutional preventive measures were assessed. Descriptive analysis was performed. Among 535 participants (385 students, 150 staff), one teenager was found to be infected with SARS-CoV-2 (0.2%), and seven individuals exhibited specific IgG (1.3%). Compared to pre-pandemic times, screen time (e.g., TV, gaming, social media) increased, and the majority of primary school students reported reduced physical activity (42.2%). Fear of infection and risk perception were relatively low, acceptance of adapted health behaviors was high. In this post-lockdown period of low SARS-CoV-2 incidence in Berlin, individual and school-level infection prevention measures were largely adhered to. Nevertheless, vigilance and continued preventive measures are essential to cope with future pandemic activity.

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