Fighting COVID-19 in Schools

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Originally appears in the Spring 2020 issue.

By Robert Kravitz

Many school administrators are facing several difficult challenges now that novel coronavirus COVID-19 is disrupting entire school systems around North America.
Some public health officials are comparing the spread of COVID-19 to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) or MERS (Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome). However, that may be misleading. A more suitable comparison might be how certain hospitals around the world are dealing with nosocomial infections.
These healthcare-acquired infections, many of which are life-threatening, have been a concern for decades. A study on how one Australian hospital system has been addressing this issue successfully may provide some answers for school administrators. These answers might help us “flatten the curve,” so to speak, in the fight against COVID-19, as well as address many of the other concerns we are all now facing as a result of this virus.