What Science Says About Children, COVID-19 and School Reopenings
In promoting the reopening of schools this fall, Trump administration officials have, at times, inaccurately described the evidence on how COVID-19 affects children:
- Adm. Brett Giroir, the coronavirus task force lead on testing, said on July 12 that studies in other countries show “young children do not seem to spread the virus” and “don’t get sick.” Children are very rarely seriously ill, but they do get sick. And while some studies indicate young children may not transmit the virus as readily as adults, it remains an unsettled issue.
- Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos the same day said “there’s nothing in the data that suggests that kids being in school is in any way dangerous.” That’s an exaggeration. Much of the evidence suggests schools can be reopened relatively safely, but there have been outbreaks linked to schools.
For weeks, President Donald Trump has pushed for schools to return to in-person instruction, even threatening to withhold funding if schools choose to stay closed.
“In Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and many other countries, SCHOOLS ARE OPEN WITH NO PROBLEMS,” Trump wrote in a July 8 tweet. “The Dems think it would be bad for them politically if U.S. schools open before the November Election, but is important for the children & families. May cut off funding if not open!”
But experts say questions remain about how frequently kids transmit the coronavirus to others. And the countries where children have returned to classrooms did so with much less ongoing community transmission than many places in the U.S. now have.
“We have some evidence that children, especially younger children, may spread the virus less than adults,”, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for
