Doctors warn that many preschools at high risk for viral transmission

Doctors from Taiwan''s leading hospital are warning that many preschools are at high risk for viral transmission. Speaking at a press conference Friday, a doctor from National Taiwan University Hospital said many Taiwan preschools are located inside large buildings and have no windows opening up to outside air. Improving ventilation is critical to reducing infection risk, the doctor said. The warning comes in the wake of a preschool outbreak in New Taipei, which involves the highly contagious delta variant.

NTU Hospital held an online press conference on Friday to address the school outbreak, emphasizing that classroom ventilation is key.

Su Ta-chen
NTU Hospital physician
We see that many preschools are located inside large buildings. They don’t have windows or doors that open directly to the outdoors. They are confined spaces. Comparatively speaking, these preschools are a high-risk environment conducive to viral transmission.

Besides ensuring safe practices by teachers, students, and their parents, the most important thing preschools can do is improve ventilation, he said. The physician urged the government to ramp up school inspections. He also said that classroom toys can be a vector of transmission.

Su Ta-chen
NTU Hospital physician
Studies done in the U.S. and Australia all show that the virus can survive on the surface of plastic for three days. Some studies even state that the virus can live for 21 days or more.

Su said that toys must be regularly cleaned and disinfected. Physician Huang Li-min warned that the school outbreak isn’t over yet – that there could be more waves of infections ahead. He said there’s likely more than one infection source behind the outbreak.

Huang Li-min
NTU Children’s Hospital superintendent
Going by the five-day incubation period of this virus, we have already seen three waves. If lab results show that the construction worker had a high CT value, we may be able to infer that he was infected between Aug. 12 and 14. If so, you’ll have to be careful, because he may have been infected by a different source.

The transmission chain of this cluster is complex, and experts still haven’t identified the source of infection. Doctors say preschools should take precautions to lower their risk of a delta outbreak.