Risk of partial school closure for COVID-19 by socio-economic level in the period 2020-22

Background The objective was to analyse the risk of partial school closure by economic level in Barcelona city. Methods In this ecological study, the risk of partial school closure for the academic years 2020-21 and 2021-22 was estimated by dividing the total number of days that each child was in quarantine or isolation by the total number of days that each child was at risk to be in quarantine or isolation in the academic year. The association between partial school closure risk and mean income by district was estimated with the Spearman rho. Results The lower the mean income, the higher the risk of partial closure (Spearman rho = 0.83; P-value = 0.003) during the academic year 2020-21. Specifically, the children from the district with the lowest income had a six times greater risk of partial school closure compared with those from the highest-income district. This risk did not show a significant socioeconomic gradient in the academic year 2021-22. Conclusions The risk of partial school closure presented an inverse socioeconomic gradient in the city of Barcelona according to average income by district in the academic year 2020-21. This distribution was not observed in the academic year 2021-22.

Automated summary

This study analyzed the risk of partial school closure by economic level in Barcelona city. It found that during the academic year 2020-21, the risk was higher in low-income districts, with a six-fold higher risk compared to high-income districts. However, this socioeconomic gradient risk distribution was not observed in the academic year 2021-22.