Closing Schools Doesn’t Help Reduce COVID-19 Deaths

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on Study Finds.

As children in various states continue to adjust to remote learning, a new study finds heading back to class may not be such a concern after all. Researchers say closing schools during the pandemic does not significantly reduce the number of serious coronavirus infections and deaths.

The study, released by the American Institute of Physics, finds social distancing is most important when it comes to reducing severe COVID cases while creating minimal social disruption. School closures, the loss of public spaces, and having to work from home, on the other hand, have caused major disruptions in people’s social lives worldwide.

The new findings suggest curbing the rise in fatal coronavirus cases is possible without the need for such social disruptions.

“School only represents a small proportion of social contact,” study author Dr. Qingpeng Zhang says in a media release.

“It is more likely that people get exposure to viruses in public facilities, like restaurants and shopping malls. Since we focus here on the severe infections and deceased cases, closing schools contributes little if the elderly citizens are not protected in public facilities and other places.”

Researchers ran thousands of simulations on the pandemic response in New York City. The team revealed school closures are not largely beneficial in preventing serious COVID-19 cases.

Source: Study Finds
https://www.studyfinds.org/closing-schools-wont-help-covid-19/