Introduction
After the outbreak of the Corona Virus in the US in March this year, most of the learning institutions canceled in-person learning sessions for the remaining part of the year. The situation has been worsening since then. But now that social places have started to open up across the more than 50 States; there are debates on the most appropriate time for schools to reopen for in-person sessions (Melnick, Hanna, et al. .pp.117-121). Towards the end of June, the American Academy of Pediatrics proposed in a policy recommendation that a priority should be given to in-person teaching. And since then, several schools have shown interest in reopening soon. The available data on children’s role in the spread of the disease is contradictory and not worth the risk of trying out with opening of schools. Even so, reopening schools could lead to a rise and spikes, especially among the vulnerable teachers and other community members.
Schools Reopening in the US
Nuzzo, an expert in matters Corona Virus and an epidemiology scientist at Hopkins University, is one of the people who advocate reopening schools and summer camps (Murray, Kara & Hayley.pp.1-12)). He argues that the notions of having kids at home and parents going for work until when a vaccine for the disease is discovered subjects the teenagers on experiences that are not accounted for.
Diverse public health groups argue that having schools open for in-person learning is still extremely risky, giving evidence like China and Israel that shut their learning institutions after reopening (Sharfstein, Joshu and Christopher.pp.2-7). Epidemiologists and public health experts put into consideration the risks of the pandemic and believe that the dangers and hazards should and must be weighed with respect to the cost of drastically changing the lives of children.
As Sharfstein, Joshu, and Christopher (2020) argue, beyond the benefits of relieving parents, the burden of caring for the kids, reopening of learning institutions confer other benefits to the society at large. However, with distance learning, research studies indicate that seven million kids do not access the internet infrastructure to attend Zoom classes in the US. Research also shows that students from low-income neighborhoods will likely lose a whole academic year of gain in all manner of perspectives if institutions remain closed.
Apart from the benefits that the in-class schooling and reopening confer, pro reopening experts cite evidence that young people are less affected by the disease than adults. A recent scientific study in Nature notes that teenagers and children are half likely than adults to be infected with COVID 19 (Rundle & Andrew . et al.pp.1). Even though the long-term complexities that come with the mild effects of the diseases are yet to be determined, research indicates that only about 21% of the kids are symptomatic compared to symptomatic 69% adults above the age of 70. In May, guardians and parents showed worries about their children’s safety when about a hundred students showed severe reactions referred to “multisystem inflammatory syndrome.” Pro reopening experts claim that this disorder is infrequent, but worth considering it as a risk.
While about 12,000 American citizens have succumbed to the disease, only about 25 children are below 15. On the same note, more than 1,700 kids succumb to child abuse and neglect in the US annually, issues that prove to be very hard for the kids to record while they are away from teachers on frequent notes (Hodge, James.pp.107-111).
However, the main reason why reopening of schools is delayed, according to Hodge & James (2020), is not solely because of the impending dangers the disease pose on children but also the vulnerable parents and teachers these students might infect the disease. How most probably children may transmit COVID 19 to the vulnerable members of the community is a debatable subject, and the probability is high. If children are found to be active agents of the disease irrespective of the fact that they might be asymptomatic, then they will be the most notable carriers to the communities (Malkus et al. .pp.1).
According to the duo above, evidence that kids are as contagious as compared to adults is insignificant. The scholars believe that opening up daycares and schools, in general, would be hazardous, pointing to the various research studies that the infected children might serve as the disease vectors and pass the virus into the communities the same way they do with sniffles and stomach bugs. He also notes that there are not yet enough reasons and justifications that children are less likely to transmit the infection.
Citing the Israeli reopening of schools and the untimely closure resulting from the spike, it is convincingly not yet time to reopen. Four school kids in Israel started developing heart complications as a result of COVID 19. Provided the fact that deaths rarely occur among children, the probability or rather the chances that a child will succumb are not yet defined. However small it could be, it’s a worthy cause for alarm (Sheikh & Aziz et al. .pp. 7-17).
Rhetorics and worries started to emerge when the experts in health sectors showed many concerns and cautions when it comes to matters return to normalcy. Some experts claim that if reopening should be the case, then the same should and must be done with modifications putting the pandemic into considerations. The amendments experts proposed that the changes may include social distancing, staggering of drop-offs, closure of common areas, and cancellation of extracurricular activities (Salerno et al. .pp.67). If the school must reopen, older staff members and those with compromised immunity may be provided with alternative job opportunities. Reopening could perhaps start with the youngest children who need close attention and in-person instructions. The learning institutions in hot spots and epicenters of the disease may also remain closed for a while. Given these claims, they are hard to implement and therefore does not still justify reopening.
Calculating the risks is precisely what makes the complicated part of the pandemic. It proves very hard to absolutely isolate the vulnerable and the elderly from contact with the school-going children. The data available for assessment is not sufficient to make determinations on various aspects and the ills that might result from opening up the learning institutions provided that this pandemic is a unique one in the history of the US and the world at large (Lambert, Christophe G., et al. .pp.16). The experts also find it very hard to determine the best step to take now, let alone the effects that the disease will most likely cause in the short and long term. Everybody is staring at comparatively different crystal ball wondering which way may be the most lethal, which for most epidemiologists is the decisions to reopen. People have diverse opinions and scientific data available are insufficient to make absolute decisions on whether its time to reopen or not. Even so, opening schools could lead to a rise and spikes and especially among the vulnerable teachers and other members of the community, which will, in the long run, be detrimental with more damages than keeping them closed.
References
Hodge, James G. “Federal vs. State Powers in Rush to Reopen Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic.” Hodge JG. Federal vs. state powers in a rush to reopen amid coronavirus pandemic. Just Security (2020).
Lambert, Christophe G., et al. “2020-05-05 DAILY UNM GLOBAL HEALTH COVID-19 BRIEFING.” (2020).
Malkus, Nat, Cody Christensen, and Lexi West. “School District Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Round 1, Districts’ Initial Responses.” AEI Paper & Studies (2020): 1F.
Melnick, Hanna, et al. “Reopening schools in the context of COVID-19: Health and safety guidelines from other countries.” Learning Policy Institute (2020). 117-121
Murray, Kara L., L. Hayley Burgess, and Karla M. Miller. “Navigating regulatory statutes during the COVID-19 pandemic.” American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy (2020).
Rundle, Andrew G., et al. “COVID‐19–Related School Closings and Risk of Weight Gain Among Children.” Obesity (2020). 1
Salerno, John P., Natasha D. Williams, and Karina A. Gattamorta. “LGBTQ populations: Psychologically vulnerable communities in the COVID-19 pandemic.” Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy (2020).
Sharfstein, Joshua M., and Christopher C. Morphew. “The Urgency and Challenge of Opening K-12 Schools in the Fall of 2020.” JAMA (2020). 2-7
Sheikh, Aziz, et al. “Reopening schools after the COVID-19 lockdown.” Journal of Global Health 10.1 (2020).