New research from scientific journal JAMA suggests that it is imperative for students’ education that in-person learning resume as soon as possible. The research led scientists to conclude that there is “a path forward to maintain or return primarily or fully to in-person instructional delivery.”
This is a dramatic turnaround from earlier in the pandemic, when it seemed that schools would be one of the worst places to have open while an easy-to-spread disease was floating around. However, research from the Fall 2020 semester suggests that schools are much less likely to spread the illness than other locations, like bars, gyms, concert venues and the like.
Some Stipulations
The CDC isn’t recommending schooling restarts with no changes whatsoever, though. The research indicates the need for masks, social distancing and other similar measures to prevent the spread of the disease. Children in the research have been shown to follow social distancing guidelines quite well, surprising many researchers with their willingness to stay away from their friends and teachers ever after not seeing them for some time.
Some of the stipulations the research suggests are highly unpopular among some parents, especially in more rural areas. Some of these restrictions, like those on indoor dining, have proved highly politically unpopular, especially in more traditionally conservative regions.
“Decisions made today can help ensure safe operation of schools and provide critical services to children and adolescents in the U.S.,” the researchers concluded. “Some of these decisions may be difficult.”
Return to Normal?
There’s finally a vaccine, there’s a new administration, and the virus has been around for more than a year now. Many people are beginning to ask, “surely the pandemic is coming to a close soon, right?” People are exhausted of seemingly interminable lockdowns and the ever-growing death toll remains a bleak stain on the globe.
However, health experts warn that a dark winter is still ahead. Even as the vaccine rollout grinds along at its glacial pace, new strains of the virus continue to be discovered around the world. While the vaccines we currently have seem to be capable of somewhat protecting against these new strains, their sudden appearance has worried many researchers,
Some fear that, with this rapid rate of mutation, the virus might able to avoid the effects of vaccines over time and become endemic. Like the flu, COVID-19 could become a yearly infection that circles around seasonally and requires constant vaccination. Such a scenario sounds truly exhausting, but it could be our future.
