Reopening schools during the COVID-19 pandemic: governments must balance the uncertainty and risks of reopening schools against the clear harms associated with prolonged closure
Russell Viner, Chris Bonell, Lesley Drake, Didier Jourdan, Nicolette Davies, Valentina Baltag, John Jerrim, Jenny Proimos, Ara Darzi
Abstract
Evidence to support the effectiveness of global school closures in controlling COVID-19 is sparse. There is continued uncertainty about the degree to which school children are susceptible to and transmit COVID-19. Balancing the potential benefits with harms involves explicit trade-offs for governments, but there has been little recognition that low-income and middle-income countries face a very different set of trade-offs around school reopening from those in wealthy countries.
Topics & Concepts
MedicinePandemicContact tracingTransmission (telecommunications)PopulationCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)Closure (psychology)Economic growthEnvironmental healthEconomicsPathologyInfectious disease (medical specialty)Market economyElectrical engineeringEngineeringDiseaseCOVID-19 epidemiological studiesCOVID-19 and Mental HealthCOVID-19 Clinical Research Studies