Are there any other countries in the world that would open schools at rates of 500 per 100k?

[IloveJKRowling]

I've been looking and I can't find anywhere.

Most places have rates way below ours and more mitigation. For example, in Massachusetts most schools that are doing in person learning seem to be doing a hybrid half in school / half at home model with masks all the time, social distancing all the time and small class sizes that the hybrid schooling allows.

Unsurprisingly my friends there have a rate of under 40/100k whereas ours is now well over 500/100k (we're tier 4 of course but our schools apparently still opening with no social distancing and no masks next week - primary). We had about the same rates in the summer. So it seems opening schools without those mitigations isn't the best idea.

In new york they seem to want to close schools when positivity goes over 3%, although are reviewing that - and doing whole school testing using trained teams that go from school to school (yes, no getting the teachers to do it on their breaks!). Note the article mentions they have social distancing in schools and I know they have masks - so they have mitigations UK schools don't have. www.nytimes.com/2020/12/07/nyregion/nyc-school-reopening.html

Is there anywhere else in the world contemplating this madness? No mitigation against airborne spread and opening at rates over 500/100k population?

France would and did during their last lockdown. Many European countries have kept at least some in person teaching its more the us and other countries in the Americas that has shut them. The us still have very high cases of course suggesting that school closures are not the panacea always suggested on here.

France do have masks though, from age 6, right? Interesting they kept schools open.

I wonder at what point of infection they introduced the masks above 6 rule? And what impact it had on in-school infections.

I think the US is very heterogeneous - some States are doing really well (MA for example, rates are far lower than here, I think Maine was doing really well too).

Others, the ones that don't believe in masks generally, not so much.

Not only did France have schools open they also didn't send bubbles home. They argue that because everyone has masks they are not a risk to each other in school.

To put it in perspective New York State had 17,000 cases the other day with a population of 19 million so seems roughly a third of our cases, a third of our population so about the same rate per head. Yet only 300,000 of their one million state school population is receiving any in person schooling with most shut since March. Their rates do t seem to reflect the “just shut schools and everything is fine” narrative.

The masks in France were introduced at the start of their last lockdown so about 50,000 cases a day. Although as said they came with an end to self isolating for classes so I would be surprised if overall it was better than our infection control measure but I don’t have data on that.

I've never seen anyone say ''just shut schools and everything is fine' - quite the opposite. I'd be interested to see a source for this.

I suppose it's difficult to compare directly due to measures in school (masks, social distancing) and also different degrees of measures in the rest of society - are restaurants and bars open etc. So many variables.

With France - do they have data to show that the masks are protective to the point contacts don't have to be sent home? Are they doing social distancing there too?

Berlin has added a week to the winter closing time, they go back on the 10th.
There are four stages from green to red with ever increasing hygiene and safety measures in place, the stage is anounced every Friday. Red being hybrid education on and off site.
DS's school is at the moment on stage yellow: distance, masks at all times for everyone, voluntary activities cancelled, frequent airing of classrooms, hand washing, no group mixing, if the outside can be used it will be. The school was build in the 1950ies so all classrooms have windows and basins.
They had 3 cases of covid (2 pupils one teacher) so far, but of course a lot of people in isolation provided work via a server. I have just given permission for the streaming of lessons to comply with GDPR.

I just posted a new thread about South Africa, who have opened schools regardless.

73 teachers died in the last two weeks of December, out of population just less than ours, and with less Covid deaths overall.