CDC just published a doc purporting to weigh the public health risks and education benefits of reopening schools. Having recently participated in a National Academies of Science committee on just that, I am not impressed at the paucity of this document 1/ cdc.gov/coronavirus/20…
Covid is the reason schools were closed. It should be central to decisions about reopening in-person. To do otherwise is unfair to our families, teachers & communities. That doesn’t mean schools can’t open in person. But this is a weighty decision that deserves careful thought 2/
There is almost no epidemiology in this. There are only 2 paras on the science, and one of those is mostly devoted to flu. Consideration given to 1) the role of kids in transmission both in school and the broader community and 2) the risk of severe disease is nearly absent 3/
There is no mention of the risk of severe disease for teachers and staff, who are also part of the school community. There is only passing, vague mention of mitigation measures to reduce the risk of transmission. Same for community prevalence. 4/
Giving consideration to the importance of schools to children and communities is good. Our NAS report discusses that at length as well. But the degree to which this analysis breezes by the public health dimension does not sit well with me. 5/
The NAS report is available free here, but obviously these tweet comments are mine alone. nationalacademies.org/our-work/guida… 6/6
Of interest to the parents who follow me, there are two new resources for caregivers: a decision making tool for in person learning and a checklist. cdc.gov/coronavirus/20… and cdc.gov/coronavirus/20…
