study shows school closures are very effective in stopping covid-19 contagion

Amidst dispute between the national government and the City over face-to-face classes, a study says school closures are the second most important measure to reduce cases of the coronavirus, only overtaken by the cessation of social gatherings.

It is a statistical research work published in the scientific journal Nature, which states that the closure of educational establishments contributes 73% to the reduction of R, that is, the number that indicates the number of people that a person infected with covid-19 can infect.

The study, which was conducted in 79 countries and then validated with external data in 226 territories, analyzed more than 6,000 restrictions implemented by governments to stop the spread of the virus, beyond the vaccines and medical treatments that have been used so far.

“The least disruptive and cost-effective measures can be as effective as the most intrusive and drastic (eg, a national blockade),” the study said.

Analysis of the data showed that the most effective measures turned out to be cessation of social gatherings (83% effective in reducing R), school closures (73%) and border restrictions (56%). Measures aimed at increasing medical and public health care capacities, such as adding personal protective equipment (51%), restricting individual movements (42%) and a national blockade (25%) also have have been observed to have considerable efficacy.).

As for the most effective measures, they include curfews, closures and seat restrictions where people can meet for an extended period. In other words, cancellations of minor meetings (closures of premises, restaurants, homework) and closure of educational establishments.

As for schools, the work explains that previous studies did not attribute an effect on the spread of the virus to these areas, but that current evidence indicated that school closures in the United States were associated with the reduced incidence of covid-19 and 60% mortality. At the same time, in South Korea, it was found that children and adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19 are more likely to spread the virus than adults.

In conclusion, the study questions the fact that there must be a balance between “radical and less impactful measures” to avoid harmful consequences, because “less drastic measures can also promote better compliance of the population” .

“We show that the most effective measures include close and restrict most places where people congregate in greater or lesser numbers for long periods of time (businesses, bars, schools, etc.). However, we also found several measures to be very effective and less intrusive. This includes restrictions on land borders, government support for vulnerable populations and risk communication strategies, ”says the job.

However, the study recommends that governments first consider the “least restrictive interventions” appropriate to the local context before choosing the “most intrusive options”.

LGP