Experts from Johns Hopkins University said the first step to safely reopening schools is having low rates of coronavirus transmission in the community — something Massachusetts has attained.
“A responsible strategy, as we have stressed, starts with making sure the levels of transmission and illness in the surrounding community are low,” said Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
The seven-day weighted average of positive coronavirus tests in Massachusetts was 1.7% on Thursday, well below the World Health Organization threshold of 5% for safe reopening.
Nuzzo and other health experts, speaking in a Thursday virtual press briefing, said after seeing those positive trends, reopened schools can then mitigate risk by spacing out students or even assigning them to “bubbles” where they only interact with a small number of others.
“These safety measures we think are important and I think they will be helpful to reduce the transmission in school setting, but it will not completely eliminate the risk,” said Nuzzo, adding that schools should also have plans in place for a potential outbreak.
Dr. Josh Sharfstein, vice dean for public health practice and community engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said there’s evidence children can transmit the coronavirus, but not as much as adults.
“It’s an important priority for kids to go back to school and at the same time, we are in the midst of a pandemic that poses a real risk,” said Sharfstein.
Taking a question from the Herald, Nuzzo said maintaining safety protocols in schools may be easier than in other spaces such as restaurants due to increased control over spacing, mask-wearing and other hygiene policies.
Annette Anderson, an assistant professor in the Johns Hopkins School of Education added, “Schools must convince parents and teachers that they are ready and safe to reopen.”
Anderson suggested schools should invite parents into the building to see what reopening plans could look like and how students would be interacting on a daily basis.
In any community, getting students back in classrooms should take priority over opening other public venues and businesses, the experts said.
Anita Cicero, deputy director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security said, “This should be a national priority and it’s much more important, measurably more important, than reopening bars and restaurants.”
