No Solid Link Between School Reopening & Corona Case Spike

There is no clear link between reopening of schools and rise in corona cases infections, finds a study by Insights for Education, a Zurich based independent educational foundation, reports Reuters.

This comes at a time when many countries around the world are going through second wave of the covid-19 pandemic.

The study is carried out involving 191 countries.

A vast majority of 92% of the countries which went through the first wave of infections have already started to reopen educational institutions despite some of the countries are witnessing a second wave.

Of the study findings, the foundation’s founder and Chief Executive Randa Grob-Zakhary said, ‘it’s been assumed that opening schools will drive infections, and that closing schools will reduce transmission, but the reality is much more complex.’

The study found that 52 countries including France & Spain that got students back to school in August and September recorded increase in infection rates during the vacation compared to when they were closed.

In Britain and Hungary, however, infection rate went down after initial school closures, remained low during the holidays, and started rising after reopening of schools.

A thorough analysis of the 52 countries found no strong correlation between school status and infections and thereby pointing to the need of other factors for consideration behind surge in infections, shows the research.

In order to get a clear picture on the issue, the researchers put emphasis on having a look at the outcomes from those countries that are reopening schools actively against the backdrop of rising infections.

On this point, the official said, ‘the key now is to learn from those countries that are reopening effectively against a backdrop of rising infections.’

The report further said that of the countries surveyed, 44 countries have kept schools closed and about 711 million pupils are still out of school now across the globe.

For the resurgence in covid-19 cases, countries including Italy, France are developing strategies for schools during the pandemic as they issue the order for temporary school closures on a case-by-case basis.

Other measures by these countries against the backdrop of infection surge include policies on masks, class rotations and combining remote with in-school lessons, found the study.