Early data from Brown University has found that coronavirus infection rates in students and teachers over a two-week span were 0.075% and 0.15%, respectively, according to The Washington Post.
The researchers released data on the college’s National COVID-19 School Response Data Dashboard, which is being used to track coronavirus cases in schools across the country.
Here are some of the quick findings:
- 0.22% of students and 0.51% of teachers had a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19.
- 0.075% and 0.15% of students and teachers, respectively, were confirmed to have COVID-19.
Emily Oster, an economics professor at Brown University, told The Washington Post that the early data is “reassuring and suggest that school openings may be less risky than they expected.”
- “I don’t think that these numbers say all places should open schools with no restrictions or anything that comes close to that,” Oster told The Washington Post . “Ultimately, school districts are going to have different attitudes toward risk.”
How Brown University gets the data
- Schools and school districts report the data to Brown University on a volunteer basis.
- 570 schools are on the list, according to Fox News.
Yes, but ...
Some areas across the country have seen outbreaks, including Utah. For example, an email to parents in the Olympus High School community warned the area is “a hot spot,” as Deseret.com reported.
- “It is clear that the overwhelming majority of the transmission that is occurring is happening outside of school in social and family circumstances. While we continue to do everything we can at your school, we need your help and support to ensure our students and staff can remain healthy and stay safe,” the email said in part.
- “Please make sure your family is adhering to the countywide health order to avoid large group gatherings, and wearing a mask in public and especially when social distancing is not possible.”
Still a threat
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine associate professor of pediatrics Sara Johnson, told The Washington Post that schools should still have caution over bringing people back to school.
- “These data are promising but COVID is still a very big threat to people.”