Video

The COVID Debates: Should school closures never be used to stop the spread of COVID-19?

Debate
Posted: Jan 4, 2022

Debate: Be it resolved that school closures should never be used to stop the spread of COVID-19

In June 2021, Ari Bitnun, Andrew Morris, Jennifer Grant, Colin Furness, and Martha Fulford debated a notion that has once again become the subject of intense dispute as Canada sees a huge spike in COVID-19 cases: whether schools should never be closed as a means of limiting the spread of COVID-19.

Yes
VS
No
Timeline
by Ari Bitnun

Ari Bitnun

We should never have closed schools because there is no compelling reason to do so. Not only are children at very low risk of developing severe COVID-19, but schools are also not significant sites of transmission of SARS-CoV-2.

by Andrew Morris

Andrew Morris

We should not rule out school closures, since even though the short-term consequences of COVID-19 on children generally appear to be mild, they are not always benign – and no-one even knows what the long-term effects are. Furthermore, transmission does occur within schools, which can endanger not only schoolchildren but the broader community.

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