If you wanted a straight answer about the risk of reopening schools, here it is. Public health expert and virus researcher William Haseltine was interviewed by John Berman on CNN's New Day today.
"Dr. Haseltine, I want to ask you about baseball, not as a sports fan, but as a microcosm of society. and something you talk about often is how this virus spreads. So, how does what we are seeing in baseball, where 14 players and coaches on the Marlins have tested positive and are waiting for test results on more? What does that tell us about how the virus spreads and what we are do to contain it?" Berman asked.
"I think what you're seeing is what's about to happen in our high schools," Haseltine said.
"There is very little difference between the way the virus spreads and young baseball players, many who are just barely into their 20s, and how it's going to spread in high schools with anybody who's an adolescent or a teenager. Even when you're putting major efforts into creating a bubble, trying to test people as much as possible, even in the White House, I might point out, you can't contain the virus that way. The only way to contain the virus is to do it in a very broad program, as you were just hearing -- shutting down states, having systematic public health measures.
"You can't do it institution by institution. It's just not possible. That's what Major League Baseball is showing to us. I'm afraid -- I'm actually terrified that that's about to happen to our school systems. All of this emphasis on young children not being so infected -- they do get infected. Just look at what's happening in Florida right now. They may not get infected at the same rate, but the moment they're all in school together, they're going to get infected.
"They will infect their families. Their families will infect others. And we're about to have a disaster on top of a disaster."
