Is it really a good idea to close schools to fight coronavirus? - The Washington Post

Is it really a good idea to close schools to fight coronavirus? - The Washington Post

Is it really a good idea to close schools to fight coronavirus?

Students in the Lake Washington School District in the Seattle suburbs were so nervous about the novel coronavirus they started a petition urging officials to close the schools. No one in a classroom had been diagnosed with the disease, but more than 15 people in the region had died of it, and students thought: Why take a chance?

District officials did move to minimize risk, according to the system’s website, by postponing or canceling fields trips and after-school and weekend events — but they decided not to close schools even though tens of thousands of people signed the Change.org petition.

Why not?

They were following the advice of public health officials in the region not to close schools unless someone on campus is diagnosed because, they said, there are negative consequences to closing school preemptively.

While the advice could change as more is learned about the virus, the public health department for Seattle and King County said its guidance was based on several factors. For one thing, it’s unclear how the virus affects children, who do not seem to bear the brunt of illness. Furthermore, the public health agency said, children will congregate outside school if they aren’t in class. Many parents can’t stay home with their children.

“If I had a perfect crystal ball that closing schools is the right thing to do, I would say so,” Michael T. Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said in an interview.

“I have one foot deeper into ‘don’t close schools’ right now than ‘close them’” because there is no evidence closing schools will stop the spread of coronavirus or even suppress transmission of it, he said. “And I can’t even say closing down schools to clean them will make a difference. The data isn’t there.” CONTINUE READING: Is it really a good idea to close schools to fight coronavirus? - The Washington Post