School Reopenings, Mobility, and COVID-19 Spread: Evidence from Texas

[BigmanPigman]

"We find robust evidence that reopening Texas schools gradually but substantially accelerated the community spread of COVID-19....school reopenings led to at least 43,000 additional COVID-19 cases and 800 additional fatalities within the first two months."

https://www.nber.org/papers/w28753#fromrss

"However, in Texas, reopenings often occurred alongside high community spread and at near capacity, making it difficult to meet social distancing recommendations. Using event-study models and hand-collected instruction modality and start dates for all school districts, we find robust evidence that reopening Texas schools gradually but substantially accelerated the community spread of COVID-19."

[iemitsu]

1. Seems like that was easy to predict.