Do school closures slow infections?

Will schools in England reopen on 8 March, and if so will it be partially or fully? It is likely to be the first firm measure to be announced when the Prime Minister presents his roadmap back to freedom next Monday. He has, after all, promised to give schools two weeks’ notice of when they will be expected to reopen, so he will be forced into a decision on 22 February.

It was only six weeks ago that Boris Johnson was resisting calls to close schools and was reportedly the last cabinet minister left arguing that they should remain open. The rationale of those arguing for closure was that they had not been closed during the November lockdown, and that that lockdown had not been sufficient to bring cases of new infections under control. While children are much less likely to suffer the ill-effects of Covid 19, opinion remains divided on how important they are for the spread of the disease.