Norwegian Institute of Public Health report: small effect of school closings



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On March 12, the Norwegian government announced that the country’s schools would be closed to reduce the spread of the infection in society. Preschool and elementary schools reopened in late April. In Norway’s plan to reopen the partnership, it is written that Norwegian middle and high schools and upper secondary will open on May 11.

In a report from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health on May 5, reported by Aftonbladet, the authority believes that the closure of schools has little effect on the spread of the infection.

– Studies evaluating the effect of school closure are compared to a normal school life. Even in these situations, there is no sure reason why school closings affect the spread of the infection. We have now introduced measures in schools and in society at large, and then closed schools will likely be even less important if they have any effect, says Margrethe Greve-Isdahl, CEO of the Institute of Public Health, in the report.

When it comes to young people She writes to the Institute of Public Health that closing schools can even negatively affect the spread of the infection. The report states that young people get sick more than children, but less than adults.

– Bringing young people back to school, where measures have been implemented to prevent the spread of infection, has a positive effect in limiting the spread of infection compared to keeping schools closed while society is about to open, Greve-Isdahl says.

In an updated guide on how schools should deal with the spread of infection, the Institute of Public Health writes that “the overall negative effects of keeping schools closed are far greater than the potential benefit of limiting the spread of infection.

Frode Forland, infection control expert at the Institute of Public Health, he tells Aftonbladet that it was a political decision to close schools in Norway.

– The closure of the schools was a decision made by the government that we did not initially recommend. The Institute of Public Health suggested other things that are more effective, but closing schools and preschools was not on our list, he tells the magazine.

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