A shocking British study .. The effect of school closures on controlling the Corona outbreak

Scientists in Britain have said that closing schools will not help contain the spread of infection during outbreaks of diseases such as Covid-19, but it will have a major impact when life returns to normal after the end of the general isolation procedure.

Data on the impact of school closings on Covid-19 are limited as the pandemic remains in effect, but researchers at University College London say evidence of influenza epidemics and outbreaks caused by other Corona viruses indicates that the impact of school closures on the spread of the disease will be low.

"We know from previous studies that school closings are most likely to affect if the transmission of the virus is low and infection rates are higher in children," said Russell Weiner, an expert at the Great Ormond Street Institute for Child Health of the University College London, who participated in the research. This is the opposite of Covid-19.

"Policymakers need to be aware of the evidence when considering school closings due to Covid-19 in light of the severe and prolonged impact it has on children, especially the poorest of them," he said.

To protect millions of children around the world, schools were closed as governments imposed measures of social separation and public isolation to slow the Covid-19 pandemic caused by the emerging coronavirus SARS-Cove 2 virus.

Finner's research says that as of March 18, about 107 countries had closed national schools. The research was published in the Lancet child and adolescent health journal late Monday.

Weiner and his team have studied 16 previous studies to analyze the potential impact of school closures in light of the outbreak of the Corona virus, which causes Covid-19 disease.

The scientists said in the study summary that the data extracted from the outbreak of acute respiratory infection (SARS) in China, Hong Kong and Singapore indicate that the closure of schools "did not contribute to controlling the pandemic."

Weiner said the study results show that countries should "ask tough questions like when and how schools are opened."

He added that it is possible to think of other measures, such as changing the start times of the school day, resting times, closing the schoolyard and limiting the movement of children between classes to limit the spread of Covid-19 disease.