Strategies to exiting the COVID-19 lockdown for workplace and school: A scoping review

•Epidemiological conditions should be monitored and enforced.•COVID-19 must be under control below thresholds of safeguards.•Testing, contact tracing, and isolation strategies are essential components to ease the lockdown.•The maintenance of social distancing measures is an overarching mitigation strategy.•The benefit gained from the implementation of social distancing was evident. In an attempt to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, several countries have implemented various social restrictions, such as closing schools and asking people to work from home. Nevertheless, after months of strict quarantine, a reopening of society is required. Many countries are planning exit strategies to progressively lift the lockdown without leading to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. Identifying exit strategies for a safe reopening of schools and places of work is critical in informing decision-makers on the management of the COVID-19 health crisis. This scoping review describes multiple population-wide strategies, including social distancing, testing, and contact tracing. It highlights how each strategy needs to be based on both the epidemiological situation and contextualize at local circumstances to anticipate the possibility of COVID-19 resurgence. However, the retrieved evidence lacks operational solutions and are mainly based on mathematical models and derived from grey literature. There is a need to report the impact of the implementation of country-tailored strategies and assess their effectiveness through high-quality experimental studies.