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OK, so to be completely objective here: the crowd in that photo isn't really the problem per se. That's a transient crowd between classes, the kids are walking

OK, so to be completely objective here: the crowd in that photo isn't really the problem per se. That's a transient crowd between classes, the kids are walking past each other quickly and then disengaging after a minute or two as they enter their next class. That's not a known high risk situation, existing superspreader events almost exclusively tend to be more static: restaurants, cruise ships, theaters/arenas, that sort of thing: places where people are near an infected person and stay there for a bit. The thing to worry about with school openings is the classroom, not the hallway. The fact that this hall is so packed tells me that the classes are probably at capacity too. That's worrisome for sure. And it's a bad, bad state for this to be happening. GA continues to have one of the worst infection rates in the country, and contra others (AZ and CA) it still seems to be at its second-wave peak and hasn't dropped much yet: https://91-divoc.com/pages/covid-visualization/?chart=states-normalized&highlight=Georgia&show=us-states&y=both&scale=linear&data=cases-daily-7&data-source=jhu&xaxis=right#states-normalized https://91-divoc.com/pages/covid-visualization/?chart=states...

nicoburns 6y ago
Hmm... only takes one sick kid not wearing a mask to sneeze and I'll bet a fair few other kids get sick.
- newacct583 6y ago
  It may not, actually. We just don't know (and realistically won't for years). But the data are what the data say, and so far we simply don't have any good documentation of spreading events from this kind of contact. People are getting sick in droves in bars and retirement communities with continual contact. We aren't seeing a bunch of cases spread at retail shopping, at least not yet. I mean, maybe you could argue that those data are harder to see and just haven't been found. And that's plausible. But right now you want to stay outside of static interior environments. That's where the danger is. This shot doesn't meet the standards for a known high risk event, it's merely a bad idea.
  - throwaway20148 6y ago
    > continual contact Like a school room with 15 kids spaced 4 feet apart for 45 minutes?
    - lkbm 6y ago
      Yes, that's specifically what newacct583 called out as the major issue: > The thing to worry about with school openings is the classroom, not the hallway. The fact that this hall is so packed tells me that the classes are probably at capacity too. That's worrisome for sure.
    - ba2plus 6y ago
      With garbage HVAC systems that were built half a century prior by the lowest bidder and largely unmaintained since then.
  - glitcher 6y ago
    The other danger is when those who understand scientific scrutiny downplay a situation because we don't have the data yet, it becomes ammo for others to cherry pick to support their own beliefs which are firmly not grounded on the scientific method. Just like the mask "debate" in this country, avoiding scenes like that school hallway have a very big _potential_ benefit, while only requiring a simple change in behavior to avoid.
  - rvp-x 6y ago
    In my country after a small number of students from one school tested positive they sent everyone to quarantine and tested them. They reached 220 cases in total. This school doesn't have mandatory masks, it didn't shut down, and it isn't quarantining the close contacts of those infected. They are all going to have COVID-19.
JoshTko 6y ago
How is this all that different from a cruise ship? Schools are designed to rotate kids to several classes throughout the day ensuring that any sick child will sit in class with several different groups.
fedorareis 6y ago
I would say you are right the classrooms are more worrisome, especially since I doubt the desks are being wiped down between students. I would say that the hallway is still worrying. It isn’t just students walking past each other. I’m sure they are bumping into and brushing up against each other. In my experience it is hard to avoid when you are rushing to your next class in a crowded hallway.
- DuskStar 6y ago
  > especially since I doubt the desks are being wiped down between students. Being more pedantic, but as far as I'm aware there's minimal evidence of infection from contaminated surfaces rather than airborne droplets.
golf3 6y ago
Don't expect much from a BuzzFeed blog about a viral photo.

nicoburns 6y ago

Hmm... only takes one sick kid not wearing a mask to sneeze and I'll bet a fair few other kids get sick.

newacct583 6y ago
It may not, actually. We just don't know (and realistically won't for years). But the data are what the data say, and so far we simply don't have any good documentation of spreading events from this kind of contact. People are getting sick in droves in bars and retirement communities with continual contact. We aren't seeing a bunch of cases spread at retail shopping, at least not yet. I mean, maybe you could argue that those data are harder to see and just haven't been found. And that's plausible. But right now you want to stay outside of static interior environments. That's where the danger is. This shot doesn't meet the standards for a known high risk event, it's merely a bad idea.
- throwaway20148 6y ago
  > continual contact Like a school room with 15 kids spaced 4 feet apart for 45 minutes?
  - lkbm 6y ago
    Yes, that's specifically what newacct583 called out as the major issue: > The thing to worry about with school openings is the classroom, not the hallway. The fact that this hall is so packed tells me that the classes are probably at capacity too. That's worrisome for sure.
  - ba2plus 6y ago
    With garbage HVAC systems that were built half a century prior by the lowest bidder and largely unmaintained since then.
- glitcher 6y ago
  The other danger is when those who understand scientific scrutiny downplay a situation because we don't have the data yet, it becomes ammo for others to cherry pick to support their own beliefs which are firmly not grounded on the scientific method. Just like the mask "debate" in this country, avoiding scenes like that school hallway have a very big _potential_ benefit, while only requiring a simple change in behavior to avoid.
- rvp-x 6y ago
  In my country after a small number of students from one school tested positive they sent everyone to quarantine and tested them. They reached 220 cases in total. This school doesn't have mandatory masks, it didn't shut down, and it isn't quarantining the close contacts of those infected. They are all going to have COVID-19.

JoshTko 6y ago

How is this all that different from a cruise ship? Schools are designed to rotate kids to several classes throughout the day ensuring that any sick child will sit in class with several different groups.

fedorareis 6y ago

I would say you are right the classrooms are more worrisome, especially since I doubt the desks are being wiped down between students. I would say that the hallway is still worrying. It isn’t just students walking past each other. I’m sure they are bumping into and brushing up against each other. In my experience it is hard to avoid when you are rushing to your next class in a crowded hallway.

DuskStar 6y ago
> especially since I doubt the desks are being wiped down between students. Being more pedantic, but as far as I'm aware there's minimal evidence of infection from contaminated surfaces rather than airborne droplets.

golf3 6y ago

Don't expect much from a BuzzFeed blog about a viral photo.