The Coronavirus Pandemic: The Disrupted School Year and Public Health

This event will feature Marc Lipsitch and be hosted jointly by The Forum at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and The World from PRX & WGBH. Join the Q&A here.

In this live Forum Q&A, education expert Meira Levinson and epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch will look at how school closures and virtual learning are affecting K-12 students and their families during the coronavirus pandemic. They will examine the implications for both education and public health as the nation’s schools remain a constantly changing patchwork of in-person, remote, and hybrid learning programs. What’s the latest science on children’s susceptibility to the virus and ability to infect others, and what impacts, if any, are there in the classroom environment? What are the particular learning challenges for children of color and those living in poverty–—the same groups that have been hit hardest by COVID-19 and its economic fallout? What can be done to assess and mitigate long-term risks of what many fear could be a “lost year” for the nation’s young people. The World’s Elana Gordon will moderate.