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Students Face Quarantines As School Districts Grapple With Masking

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There is no statewide mask mandate for schools in Ohio and that has left a piecemeal approach to masking among districts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. The school year has started off with many districts implementing quarantines and shutdowns as cases are detected within schools.

Lebanon City Schools closed at the end of August for three days due to a surge in cases. Also in late August, in Bethel-Tate High School, more than 100 students were reported absent due to COVID, sending the school into remote learning for several days.

A North Carolina scientist has been studying COVID in schools. In her research, Julie Swann, Ph.D. has simulated what could happen with so many children in one building breathing the same air. Her study is one of six CDC-funded simulation groups. What the models showed Swann are that more than 75% of susceptible students would become infected within three months.

Joining Cincinnati Edition to discuss this school year and the struggles to mitigate COVID cases among students are Bethel-Tate Local Schools Superintendent Melissa Kircher; and North Carolina State University Industrial Systems Engineering Department Head and Allison distinguished professor Julie Swann, Ph.D.

Listen to Cincinnati Edition live at noon M-F. Audio for this segment will be uploaded after 4 p.m. ET.

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