Beautiful Virgin Islands

Wednesday, Aug 27, 2025

An unvaccinated teacher spread COVID-19 to 50% of students in a classroom after taking off a mask to read, CDC says

An unvaccinated teacher spread COVID-19 to 50% of students in a classroom after taking off a mask to read, CDC says

The COVID-19 outbreak spread to 26 people, the CDC reported.

An unvaccinated primary-school teacher in Marin County, California, spread COVID-19 to 26 other people, including 50% of their classroom, after spending two days sick with the coronavirus at school while not always masking, according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.

The report, published Friday, highlights how vital it is to both vaccinate and mask elementary-school teachers to protect children under 12, who cannot get vaccinated yet.

"We know how to protect our kids in school. We have the tools," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said Friday, discussing the report during a White House COVID-19 briefing.

The teacher in question "was both symptomatic and unvaccinated," Walensky said, and "was unmasked when reading aloud to the class," whose students were all too young to be vaccinated.

The teacher's actions resulted in 12 COVID-19 cases among the class of 24 kids, along with six other illnesses at the K-8 school, and eight parents and siblings were infected, the report said.

The investigation used viral-genome sequencing to determine the cases were all likely related. All the COVID-19 cases sequenced in the outbreak were classified as the Delta variant, which is about twice as contagious as other versions of the virus.

No one was hospitalized.

The unvaccinated teacher spread COVID-19 to 12 of their 24 students, despite distancing and masks on the kids, the CDC said.


The CDC drew up a map of the classroom, which shows the prevention measures that had been taken.

Students' desks were spaced apart 6 feet, windows and doors were left open to promote good ventilation, and an air filter was installed at the head of the class. Kids' adherence to CDC guidelines on both masking and distancing in school was "high" in class, according to interviews the CDC conducted with parents.

But with an unmasked, unvaccinated teacher at the helm, none of that appeared to matter so much.

The teacher continued teaching for two days while symptomatic, starting on May 19, with their symptoms worsening from initial congestion and fatigue that they wrote off as allergies to a cough, fever, and headache.

It did seem that sitting farther away from the sick teacher helped protect students, which makes sense when you consider how the coronavirus travels from person to person through the air when sick people talk or shout.

"The attack rate in the two rows seated closest to the teacher's desk was 80% (8 of 10) and was 21% (3 of 14) in the three back rows," the CDC report said.

The finding underscores what other experts have been saying for a while now — more adults need to be vaccinated to protect everyone from the Delta variant.

"Six feet is not magical," Mike Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said Thursday on his podcast, stressing that he thought the CDC guidelines didn't go far enough to prevent the spread of the more contagious Delta variant.

"We can make [school] safer, and we have to do that," Osterholm said. "The first thing we do is we use our vaccines."

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
A new faith called Robotheism claims artificial intelligence isn’t just smart but actually God itself
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner Purchases Third Property Amid Housing Tax Reforms Debate
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Italian Facebook Group Sharing Intimate Images Without Consent Shut Down Amid Police Investigation
Dutch Foreign Minister Resigns Amid Deadlock Over Israel Sanctions
Trump and Allies Send Messages of Support to Ukraine on Independence Day Amid Ongoing Conflict
China Reels as Telegram Chat Group Shares Hidden-Camera Footage of Women and Children
Sam Nicoresti becomes first transgender comedian to win Edinburgh Comedy Award
Builders uncover historic human remains in Lancashire house renovation
Australia Wants to Tax Your Empty Bedrooms
MotoGP Cameraman Narrowly Avoids Pedro Acosta Crash at Hungarian Grand Prix
FBI Investigates John Bolton Over Classified Documents in High-Profile Raids
Report reveals OpenAI pitched national ChatGPT Plus subscription to UK ministers
Labour set to freeze income tax thresholds in long-term 'stealth' tax raid
Coca‑Cola explores sale of Costa coffee chain
Trial hears dog walker was chased and fatally stabbed by trio
Restaurateur resigns from government hospitality council over tax criticism
Spanish City funfair shut after serious ride injury
Suspected arson at Ilford restaurant leaves three in critical condition
Tottenham beat Manchester City to go top of Premier League
Bank holiday heatwave to hit 30°C before remnants of Hurricane Erin arrive
UK to deploy immigration advisers to West Africa to block fake visas
Nurse who raped woman continued working for a year despite police alert
Drought forces closures of England’s canal routes, canceling boat holidays
Sweet tooth scents: food-inspired perfumes surge as weight-loss drugs suppress appetites
Experts warn Britain dangerously reliant on imported food
Family of Notting Hill Carnival murder victim call event unmanageable
Bunkers, Billions and Apocalypse: The Secret Compounds of Zuckerberg and the Tech Giants
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
×