When science doesn't yet have the answers

摘要

Back-to-school time is usually greeted with delight by children and parents. This year, school has become a hellscape of uncertainty due to the United States' failure to subdue the coronavirus. We all want children to be back at school, learning and playing with their peers. How to get them there with at least a modicum of safety is the latest challenge in a year of extraordinary challenges. On the face of it, making schools safe enough in a pandemic seems like a straightforward public health question. But though scientists have learned a great deal in the last seven months about how the coronavirus is transmitted and how to reduce risk, there's still so much we don't know, especially when it comes to kids. And as with too many other issues involving this pandemic, misinformation is rampant.