Letter to the editor: Closing schools is not containing spread

Regarding the recent letters to the editor from the Pennsylvania Pediatric Health Network (“Mitigate to end pandemic”) and Dave Bonazelli (“Schools should be online”), and the article describing the Greensburg-Salem school district’s decision to shut down in-person schooling and athletics until Jan. 26 (“Greensburg Salem shuts down athletics until Jan. 26”): I cannot figure out why people think that closing schools and related activities is helpful or necessary to contain the spread of the virus. I don’t believe there is evidence to support this.

Ohio just completed a study showing that, “Overwhelmingly, children who are ‘close contacts’ have not become infected themselves … .” A recent study from Switzerland (one of many from multiple countries with the same results) concluded that, “Under a regimen of open schools with some preventive measures in place since August, clustering of seropositive cases occurred in very few classes and not across entire schools despite a clear increase in seropositive children during a period of high transmission of SARS-CoV-2.”

The Greensburg-­Salem article said, “This additional step is being advised by medical professionals … .” Which medical professionals are recommending this, and what information are they basing this advice on? Are they not aware of the multiple studies that have shown that opening schools does not increase community spread and that closing them does not decrease community spread?

Given all the negatives mentioned in the PPHN letter and the lack of evidence that doing so helps prevent community spread, why would any medical official recommend closing schools? All it does is harm students with no benefit to the community.

Michael Sierk

Hempfield