Health officials are wrestling with how to reopen schools during a pandemic that doesn't seem to be slowing.
state recorded 9,500 new infections on Tuesday — the most new cases reported in a single day since the pandemic began.“If COVID-19 spreads too rapidly in our city,” she said, the guidelines issued today, “may not be enough for them to open safely.”But, she noted, she and other medical experts have learned a lot about the disease in the last few months, and those insights could be used as schools begin preparing to re-open.
For instance, she said, “the risk is very low for school-aged students, and also evidence indicates that children, especially those under the age of 10, are less likely to be infected with COVID-19 and probably less likely to transmit it.” Risk increases with age, however, “so for high school students, they are probably closer to adults in that risk and middle school students are probably somewhere in between.” she said.
Lee said that though social distancing is probably not an option for young children, it would be effective for older students.And she stressed universal mask wearing for everybody in a school — from students to staff and faculty. She said city officials focused their guidelines on preventing the transmission of disease via respiratory droplets — hence, masks and physical distancing — rather than disinfection.Lee said the health department recommends students stay within small, stable cohorts. In elementary schools, those cohorts should be no larger than a standard classroom.
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