Study: School closures linked to fewer COVID-19 infections, deaths — but it's complicated

Going back to school has been a hot topic in a pandemic world, with parents, students and teachers concerned about whether it’s safe to do in-person learning while COVID-19 continues to spread in communities. Now a new study attempts to shed light on how spring’s school closures affected COVID-19 outcomes. The study, which was published in JAMA, analyzed state data from March to May 2020, specifically looking at the rates of COVID-19 in each state per 100,000 people after schools closed. The data was separated into quartiles, and researchers used models to estimate the differences in COVID-19 cases and deaths in areas where schools closed compared with where they stayed open.

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