Experts also questioned another strategy employed by many districts that are open or planning to open this spring: to open part-time for fixed, small groups of students who alternately attend school to reduce classroom occupancy and maximize classroom occupancy. distance between people. Only a third said that it was very important for schools to do this, although three-quarters of the experts mentioned that students should keep two meters of distance from each other all or part of the time. Three-quarters said schools should avoid crowds, such as in hallways or cafeterias.
With universal use of face masks, “transmission in schools will remain close to zero and small groups will be unnecessary,” said Jeanne Ann Noble, doctor of emergency medicine and director of covid response at the University of California, San campus. Francisco.
Limiting the time students spend in school increased other risks, some said, such as impeding children’s social development, disrupting family routines, and increasing the chance that children will be exposed to a larger group of people outside of school. schools.
Experts expressed deep concern about other risks students run when they stay at home, including depression, hunger, anxiety, isolation and learning loss.
“Children’s learning and emotional and, in some cases, physical health are severely affected by being out of school,” said Lisa Abuogi, an emergency pediatrician at the University of Colorado. “I spend some of my clinical time in the ER, and the amount of mental anguish we are seeing in school-related children is incredible.”
Respondents to the survey were members of one of three groups: the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, the Children’s Health Decision Sciences Collaborative, and the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Epidemiology, Public Health, and Evidence Subspecialty Group. Some scientists also participated, almost all were physicians and more than a quarter additionally have a degree in epidemiology or public health. Most work in universities and around a quarter in clinical settings, and most of them stated that their daily work is closely related to the pandemic.
Although their expertise is children’s health, they cited evidence that with face masks and other precautions, the transmission of the coronavirus in schools was very low, even from children to adults.
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