A government advisor has said that the spread of coronavirus from students to teachers is not possible. The advisor also said that kids are not severely affected by the virus and total school closure due to coronavirus was a mistake.
Professor Mark Woolhouse, an epidemiologist from the University of Edinburgh and a science advisor to the government have said that there is no proof anywhere in the world showing the spread of coronavirus from a student to a teacher.
The spread of coronavirus from students
Woolhouse continued by saying that total closure of schools in the UK was a mistake, and should not have been carried out in the first place. With September nearing when children are expected to return to school, Woolhouse sentiments echo those of other government officials who have insisted that reopening of school in September should be a priority for the country.
A mandatory directive of sending kids back to schools has already been instituted in the UK, with the educaiton secretary going as far as to say that parents who will not send their kids to schools will face fines. Although the government directive has faced some backlash from teachers’ unions, parents and teachers, school reopenings look set for September.
Low infection rates
In the UK, only 15 people aged below 20 years have died of coronavirus. This number represented approximately 0.03 percent of the total fatalities in the country. These statistics have been cited multiple times by those making an argument for the reopening of schools.
Woolhouse also referred to research showing that students were not severely affected by the coronavirus, with only 21 percent of students showing signs of coronavirus. Compared to seniors above 65 years who showed symptoms 69 percent of the time they were infected. This meant that they were also less likely to contribute to the spread of coronavirus in the country.
Although data is not available for teachers getting coronavirus from students, mostly because there has been a global lockdown of schools, fear still remains of these students going to schools, picking the virus and spreading it to seniors and their parents at home.
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