What Closing Schools Has Done to Kids

that some people will refuse to take them. The season is called Doubt and it will be in your Prognosis feed on March and now here's what happened in virus news today. Europe's biggest countries, including Germany and France, suspended use of Astra Zenica's COVID nineteen vaccine as fears about its health effects grow. This creates yet another delay for

the European Union's inoculation campaign. A growing list of governments have stopped distributing the shots following reports of serious blood clotting, even as the European Unions Drug regulator said the benefits of the vaccine continue to outweigh any risks. Coronavirus cases in the US rose one point to five percent last week, the slowest increase since the pandemic began. It was the second straight week in which the rate of new infections hit a record low. The slowdown comes as the US

vaccination effort ramps up. Last week, an age of two point three nine million doses a day were administered, according to Bloomberg's Vaccine Tracker. So far, nearly seventy million Americans have received at least one dose of a vaccine, or roughly a quarter of the adult population. Finally, California's seven day positive test rate fell to a record low two percent, according to the state's Health department. California has administered more

than eleven point eight million vaccines in total. The data came a day before Los Angeles County, which was the epicenter of the post holiday surge, plans to ease its restrictions on indoor dining and allow restaurants, gyms, museums, and movie theaters to reopen. And now for our main story, This month marks the one year anniversary in the US of nationwide school closures. The Public Health Measure was designed to help stem the spread of COVID nineteen, but in

doing so, it's had a profound effect on children. That's in contrast to the disease itself, which rarely makes young people seriously ill. Senior editor Jason Gale spoke to experts about kids and COVID and why keeping children out of the classroom may leave a lasting legacy. Scientists agree that children are capable of transmitting siskov two to other kids and to adults, but younger children in particular don't seem

to be major transmitters of the coronavirus. But I think what is clear is that children certainly can transmit the disease, but they are not the major drivers of transmission the community. And I think that's the key taker message that I think very few people would disagree with. Now. This is Nigel Curtis. I'm a patric infectious disease physician and researcher and I work at the University of Melbourne and the

Merdle Children's Research Institute at the Royal Children's Hospital. In terms of cases, there's very low cases in the first two decades and then it seems to increase in young adults. But when it comes to severe disease as measured by symptomatic disease and hospitalization and death, that that's exceptionally rare. In fact, deaths are almost almost don't occur under the age of twenty. But it would be wrong to think

that children are immune to COVID nineteen harms. Around the world, kids have experienced a rafter them physical abuse, learning gaps, anxiety, and depression. Many of these stem from school closures, social isolation, and the stress inducing consequences of the pandemic. And that's

informing considerations for keeping kids in school. If you look at a sort of bigger picture, take a step back and look at the damage that has done to children by not going to school and all the other consequences, you know, the balance is really in favor of being very careful about school closures. The disruption has been unprecedented. More than one point six billion learners were affected in

one ninety countries alone, according to UNESCO. Although alternatives to in person learning have been introduced in many places, some four hundred and seventy million pupils can't get access to online or other required content for remote education. In the United States, one in four kids lacks that needed tools for remote learning. Aid groups say the children said this month, we're talking not just short term, very long term effects on them of the physical, mental, and emotional health of

children the future. If you think of the ramifications in low income countries, that are even greater in terms of lost opportunities for venizations UM and obviously those countries children have a shorter periods of a shorter period of total education. So if you lose six months or a year of education, that is a larger proportion of your total education. So the ramifications are much greater in low middle income countries. Well, I think you have to start with the fact that

this has been an evolving conversing. And Anderson is deputy director of the JOHNS. Hopkins Center for Safe and Healthy Schools in Baltimore. I asked whether the pandemic will further disadvantage some kids in the United States. The equity question continues to be a major question for those in education because we know that the estimates have ranged from as low as three percent to as high as temper set of students who have been disengaged for almost the better

part of a year. Students from particular socio economic and racial groups are likely to be overrepresented among those who

drop out of school. McKinsey and co. Estimated in June that learning loss will probably be greatest among youth from low income families and black and Hispanic students, exacerbating existing achievement gaps by fifteen to the consulting firm predicted u S students in grades K through twelve may lose on average the equivalent of a year of full time work and lifetime earnings solely as a result of COVID related

learning losses. But it's not that schools haven't wanted to open safely, and it says we have seen that schools have had this kind of of trial by fire in terms of trying to reopen successfully, and that many schools have had to use a system of using different ideas around what it would take to reofer and and then pivoting when those ideas did not work well, meaning that some have had to go back and had to close. Uh. And that's been a global challenge. For one thing, school

buildings pose a challenge. We still have classrooms that don't necessarily have windows or strong ventilation systems, and so we know that has to be a priority, particularly in some of these older buildings. You have to, you know, remember that a lot of the buildings, especially in our large urban cities, were built at the turn of the last century.

They looked like fortresses because they were meant to connote safety, and as they've gotten older, they're harder to remediate, they're harder to renovate, and that sees that's is part of the challenge moving forward. And I just think that we are in a place where we want to press reset about the reopening of our schools, and so we have some some time now to think about what we want our schools to be and how we can reconceptualize using

some of those buildings that have been historically challenge. Modes of teaching and the tools and technologies use for learning will also change in it says, I think that people expect that face to face learning is the ideal, but I don't think that we are ever going quite back to that. I think what you're starting to see is that there's just more technology. So whereas you may have just had students have interaction on a laptop, now you're seeing them use multiple devices all at the same time.

And it's also that they're learning how to engage with one another socially. You're seeing that teachers are teaching both to hybrid learners as well as to their face to face students. And the technology is what is the bridge for that to happen, so students can have root projects, so that they can have lectures happening in their classes. There is much more engagement that's happening, and it's happening

across multiple devices. PRIVID nineteen will leave its mink on these generations children in so many profound and enduring ways got the pandemics effect on schools may change the way we learn forever. That was Jason Gale, and that's it for our show today. For coverage of the outbreak from one and twenty bureaus around the world, visit Bloomberg dot com slash Coronavirus and if you like the show, please leave us a review and a rating on Apple Podcasts

or Spotify. It's the best way to help more listeners find our global reporting. The Prognosis podcast is produced by Tophor Foreheads Magnus Hendrickson and me Laura Carlson. Today's main segment was reported by Jason Gale. Original music by Leo

Sidrin Our editors are Rick Shine and Francesco Levi. We also want to take a moment to thank the people who helped make the show over the past year and a court Kristin V. Brown, Michelle fa Cortez, John Tozzi, Drew Armstrong, Cynthia Coon's, James Peyton, Katie Boyce, Jared Sandberg, and Jordan Gaspoure. Francesco Levie is head of Bloomberg Podcasts. Thanks for listening. M