Retrospective assessment of the SARS-cov2 virus circulation during lockdown in two hospital childcare centers hosting healthcare workers' children in a French area of high transmission

Background - The effectiveness of the closing of nurseries and school on controlling the epidemic of SARS-CoV-2 virus is not known, especially because the role of children in SARS-CoV2 transmission remains unclear Methods - Between May 29 and July 2, 2020, a retrospective cohort study was conducted among two populations: requisitioned health-care workers and requisitioned staff from hospital's childcare centers, to investigate the virus circulation during lockdown, in a French area of high transmission Results - The infection attack rate was 6/52 (11 6%) and 8/46 (17 4%) among health-care workers and childcare staff, respectively An early epidemic occurred among Montreuil's hospital childcare staff, but the parents were not affected (p=0 029) Among Aulnay-sous-Bois childcare center, three staff members were infected but none of them was in charge of a child whose parents were infected Also among the parents of the children they cared for, none has developed antibodies Out of 14 infections, 12 were reliable to a source of transmission, mostly among colleagues Discussion-conclusion - The assessment of viral circulation among healthcare workers and childcare staff suggests that the children did not contribute to SARS-CoV-2 spread in our setting