Other countries show that schools need not be pandemic hotspots

HOW MUCH of a risk is opening schools during the pandemic? Experience from a number of countries is starting to shed some light.

For the children themselves, covid-19 is not a big threat. They usually have mild symptoms or none at all. Among children with symptoms, only 0.1% of those younger than ten and 0.3% of those aged between ten and 19 end up in hospital, a study from Britain shows. For school-aged children, a covid-19 infection is less deadly than most flu infections.

The big worry is that children may spread the virus through school. Studies in households where someone introduced the infection usually find that younger children are much less likely to catch the virus than adults. The evidence for older children is mixed, with some studies concluding that they are as susceptible to infection as adults.

But even if children are infected less easily at home, when they mingle a lot chances are that many of them will pick up the virus. In an overnight summer camp in the state of Georgia in June at least half of the 346 children attending were infected.

Whether the sort of mingling that happens at school is also a recipe for disaster is best judged by looking at countries where schools have reopened. Data from England published on August 23rd are encouraging. Its schools reopened in June for some school...