School Opening Questions & Answers Part 2 - Michael Osterholm

Opening Schools II: Where, When, and How

Part II and the final podcast giving concluding advice on school openings by Dr. Michael Osterholm, an internationally recognized medical detective and director for the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, or CIDRAP, at the University of Minnesota. 

The decision on school openings may depend on many variables said Dr. Osterholm, including differing opening choices for elementary school children, older students, staff issues, and the degree of community spread of the virus in any particular community.

Recommended as one data point for use in determining school openings is the number of new daily COVID cases in the county, Dr. Osterholm says it should be 5 or lower new daily cases per 100,000 people.

(Editor's note: Hendry county today is at 48 new daily cases per 100,000, Glades county now at 81 per 100,000. The state of Florida is 52 per 100,000.

The only states as of today meeting that daily new case number are eight Northeastern states including New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Jersey, and the state of Hawaii. See https://globalepidemics.org/key-metrics-for-covid-suppression/)

In this week's concluding podcast episode II, Dr. Osterholm and host Chris Dall discuss considerations for reopening schools in the fall, how long should be delays be before opening, what questions need to be answered first, which schools should open and which not, and what do parents, teachers and staff recommend. Also discussed the efficacy of masks, distancing and outdoor activities.

Podcast: https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/podcasts-webinars/episode-17