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.

Viner, Russell M; Bonell, Christopher; Drake, Lesley; Jourdan, Didier; Davies, Nicolette; Baltag, Valentina; Jerrim, John; Proimos, Jenny; Darzi, Ara; (2021) 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. Archives of disease in childhood, 106 (2). pp. 111-113. ISSN 0003-9888 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2020-319963

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.

Additional Information

Item Type	Article
Faculty and Department	Faculty of Public Health and Policy > Public Health, Environments and Society
Research Centre	Clinical Trials Unit Centre for Maternal, Reproductive and Child Health (MARCH)
PubMed ID	32747375
Elements ID	155823