How to Reopen Schools


A high school junior, conducting a coronavirus test. Photo Credit: Emile Ducke for The New York Times

The school is in Germany. The 17-year-old girl walked into a tent six feet behind her classmates. She picked up the test kit. She inserted the swab from the kit deep into her throat. Then she closed her mouth, labeled the sample and put the it back in the kit. She walked back into her classroom. The process took less than three minutes.

The results came overnight. A positive test would mean that she would stay home for two weeks. Her test was negative. She was given a green sticker that allows her to move around the school without a mask. The school will test her again in four days.

Children are a special group. They often do not have symptoms. Children are among the spreaders of the common flu. Are they also spreaders of the coronavirus? Some studies say that kids carry the coronavirus as much as adults.

Schools around the world

An 11th-grade class in Germany. Photo Credit: Emile Ducke for The New York Times.

The school in Germany is trying to answer the question of how infectious are children. It tests students twice a week. Class sizes are half the normal size. The hallways are one-way. Teachers wear masks. Windows and doors are open for air circulation.

The temperatures of students in China are checked when they go to school. Schools in Australia hold classes only one day a week for only one quarter of the students in each grade. Hong Kong and Japan are doing the same thing. In Taiwan schools are in session but there are no assemblies and the students wear masks.

Studies from China say that children may be less contagious than adults. Researchers in Iceland and the Netherlands did not identify a single case in which children brought the virus into their homes.

Countries in Europe are going different ways. Denmark has opened primary schools and nurseries. It says that young children are the least at risk and that they the most dependent on parents who need to return to work. Germany allowed older children back to school first. They say older children are better able to follow rules on masks and distancing.

Belgium, Greece and Austria are all starting lessons for select grades. Sweden never closed its schools, but distancing and hygiene rules are in place. Some hard-hit countries like Spain and Italy are waiting to open their schools in the fall.

Schools have to reopen. Schools are important parts to the restarting of a country’s economy. There is one big question. Do virus transmissions rates rise, fall, or stay the same when schools reopen?

Restarting economies brings many benefits. Do the benefits outweigh the risks? The answers lie ahead.

Source: The New York Times May 10, 2020

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