1/5 Will coronavirus spread less in warm weather? Probably. Most but not all respiratory viruses spread less in warm weather. But cases and outbreaks, especially in nursing homes and other risky places such as shelters and jails, will continue. Now's the time to plan and prepare.
2/5 Simple acts of safety save lives. Washing hands. Using hand sanitizer. Not going out if we're sick. Wearing a face mask, especially if we're within 6 feet of someone indoors, in a community where the virus is spreading.
3/5 What about schools? We can't count on a vaccine or a dramatic treatment success, so we have to plan. Hope is not a plan. Schools are important. Keeping them closed will cause health, educational, economic, and societal harms.
4/5 So let's have an open discussion of how schools could open. Maybe 6 days a week, with half day sessions and smaller classes. Maybe groups of students staying together. Certainly with medically vulnerable children and staff continuing to be protected, learning from distance.
5/5 #COVID19 is here for awhile. The sooner we figure out ways to resume as much of our activity as safely as possible, the sooner we can reduce the health and the economic burden of the pandemic.
