For epidemiologists modelling the novel coronavirus, predicting the future is an inexact science. But two Toronto experts agreed that shutting down schools for only a month is not enough to stop the spread of COVID-19 and said they believe social isolation could continue for months, if not years. “People should at least entertain the possibility that the school year may be done this year.
I’m hesitant to speculate what will happen in September, but it’s also possible that we’ll be dealing with a disrupted school year in September,” said Ashleigh Tuite, an epidemiologist who’s part of a research group at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana school of public health.