Abstract
After 5 weeks of lock-down during the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium, the government considered reopening schools in the beginning of May 2020. Decision were merely made, based on advises from epidemiologists and virologists. This study shows that by using routine data in primary care decisions can easily be supported and infectious can be monitored in a valid way.
Highlights
As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic most countries have closed their schools impacting almost 70% of the world’s student population and leading to a total of 1.2 billion of children not attending school [1]
Using the Out-of-Hours (OOH) research database of iCAREdata, we are able to measure and describe the Reasons for Encounter (RFE) with primary care OOH services and clinical diagnoses registered by the General Practitioner (GP) on call [6,7]
In Belgium OOH primary care is organized in General Practice Cooperatives (GPCs) which are available during weekends and bank holidays
Summary
As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic most countries have closed their schools impacting almost 70% of the world’s student population and leading to a total of 1.2 billion of children not attending school [1]. It is not possible to distinguish respiratory Covid symptoms from symptoms due to other respiratory infections; monitoring “respiratory illness” and comparing the current data with identical data from last year, can give an indication of the respiratory illness burden in children. These data are able to offer the evidence base for decision makers and monitor the disease after reopening of schools
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