Table 1

Baseline characteristics of school staff sample

VariableN*Completed questionnaire (n=1689)N*Completed serology testing (n=1556)
Age (mean±SD)168445.4±10.4155645.7±10.3
Sex, % female, n (%)16811355 (80.6%)15501257 (81.1%)
Canadians of indigenous origin, n (%)168831 (1.8%)155531 (2.0%)
Ethnicity, n (%)16891556
 White, Caucasian1175 (69.6%)1084 (69.7%)
 South Asian65 (3.9%)57 (3.7%)
 Chinese277 (16.4%)257 (16.5%)
 Black12 (0.7%)12 (0.8%)
 Filipino35 (2.1%)33 (2.1%)
 Latin American26 (1.5%)26 (1.7%)
 Arab4 (0.2%)3 (0.2%)
 Southeast Asian32 (1.9%)27 (1.7%)
 West Asian1 (0.1%)1 (0.1%)
 Korean11 (0.7%)9 (0.6%)
 Japanese39 (2.3%)36 (2.3%)
 Other/No answer62 (3.7%)57 (3.7%)
Classroom workers†, n (%)16881320 (78.2%)15551212 (77.9%)
Contact time with students (hours/week), median (IQR)168417.6 (5.0–25.0)155217.5 (4.6–25.0)
School level, n (%)16891556
 Elementary1076 (63.7%)992 (63.8%)
 Secondary474 (28.1%)436 (28.0%)
 Work at multiple levels55 (3.3%)48 (3.1%)
 School district office only84 (5.0%)80 (5.1%)
No. of people living in household, median (IQR)16853 (2–4)15523 (2–4)
Living with an essential worker in household, n (%)1671619 (37.0%)1541565 (36.7%)
At least one comorbidity‡, n (%)1689409 (24.2%)1556379 (24.4%)
Smoker, n (%)168646 (2.7%)155341 (2.6%)
Travelled outside BC since 1 January 2020, n (%)1687278 (16.5%)1554252 (16.2%)
  • *N with data available.

  • †Those who reported being a teacher, teacher librarian, resource teacher, student support worker or family and youth worker in response to the question: “What is your job title? (teacher, teacher librarian, resource teacher, student support worker, family and youth worker, administrator (principal, vice principal), administrative assistant, maintenance staff, school board office staff, other)”.

  • ‡Any the following: hypertension, diabetes, asthma, chronic lung disease, chronic heart disease, chronic kidney disease, liver disease, cancer, chronic blood disorder, immunosuppressed, chronic neurological disorder.

  • BC, British Columbia.