Teachers not at higher risk of Covid-deaths than average

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said that teachers are not at significantly higher risk of death from Covid-19 than the general population.

Those working in restaurants, factories and care homes had among the highest death rates, followed by taxi drivers and security guards. Nurses meanwhile were more than twice as likely as their peers to die of coronavirus.

The ONS looked at death rates from coronavirus in England and Wales between 9 March and 28 December 2020.

Among teachers, there were 18 deaths per 100,000 among men and 10 per 100,000 among women.

Secondary school teachers appear to have a very slightly elevated risk at 39 deaths per 100,000 people in men and 21 per 100,000 in women.

Because the numbers for secondary teachers were comparatively small - 52 deaths in total - it's difficult to be certain about their exact risk, but any increase there might be compared with the general population was not considered statistically significant.

However, while teachers were not at higher risk than the average, they did appear to be at higher risk than some other professional job roles, which have seen very few or no deaths.

The ONS excluded from its analysis any occupation that had seen fewer than 10 deaths, and the average death rate for the whole population masks this variation.

The study also covers periods where there were limited numbers of children attending school.

The figures tell us teachers didn't have an elevated risk of the magnitude faced by health and care staff and by lower-paid manual and service workers.