Reopening schools is a coronavirus wildcard

The big picture: Although children themselves rarely get severe cases of the coronavirus, countries worldwide have struggled to keep it from spreading among people who live together. The problem is particularly acute among multigenerational households.

Respiratory viruses in general spread easily from child to child, and thus from household to household.

“If you put people together in a mixed environment, if you have essentially a daily mass gathering of children with teachers, you’re providing opportunities for transmission of the virus,” said Jeffrey Shaman, a professor at Columbia University.

“I think it’s very unwise in the current situation for us to play with fire and reopen schools,” he added. And if it turns out that there is some seasonality to the virus, and it gets worse in the fall, that “double whammy will just amplify things.”