Phew! school cases

Encouraging early COVID data on kids

Less than 1 percent of teachers and students have become infected with the coronavirus since classes began this fall, according to a new study.

The new data from Brown University’s National COVID-19 School Response Data Dashboard followed 550 schools across 46 states over a two-week period starting Aug. 31, with at least 300 conducting some form of in-person learning, The Washington Post reported.

Researchers found that only 0.23 percent of students and 0.51 percent of teachers had confirmed or suspected cases of the virus.

For confirmed cases specifically, the rate fell even lower with only 0.076 percent of students infected and 0.15 percent of educators.

Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said this early data indicate that — while some colleges have had outbreaks — elementary, middle and high school reopenings haven’t been as risky as previously thought.

“Everyone had a fear there would be explosive outbreaks of transmission in the schools,” Osterholm told the newspaper.

“In colleges there have been. We have to say that, to date, we have not seen those in the younger kids, and that is a observation.”

But Emily Oster, an economics professor at Brown who helped create the tracker, said schools should still evaluate all risk factors when approaching in-person classes. “These numbers will be, for some people, reassuring and suggest that school openings may be less risky than they expected,” Oster told the newspaper.

But she added, “I don’t think that these numbers say all places should open schools with no restrictions or anything that comes close to that. Ultimately, school districts are going to have different attitudes toward risk.”

Separate data from Texas really important offered similar results, with 0.31 percent of the 1.1 million Lone Star State students who attend school in person testing positive since returning, according to the paper.

In the Big Apple, the nation’s largest school system has gotten off to a troubled start as officials fret over safety.

Mayor de Blasio issued a lastminute announcement earlier this month to delay the start of in-person learning after critics said the city was not ready to safely reopen its 1,400 school buildings.

Teachers have questioned testing protocols and protective-gear provisions, while union officials have stressed acute staffing shortages.