 Schools and the transmission of Sars-Cov-2: Evidence from ItalyEconomics & Human Biology, 2024, vol. 52, issue C Abstract: This paper studies the effect on the spread of Sars-Cov-2 in Italy of schools’ re-openings and closures. Exploiting different re-opening dates across regions after the summer break of 2020, I show that early-opening regions experienced more cases in the 40 days following school re-openings compared with late-opening ones. However, there is great uncertainty around the estimates, and this suggests a wide dispersion in the effects of school re-openings on Sars-Cov-2 transmission. I also study the effect of school closures in Campania, one of the biggest regions in Southern Italy. Using a synthetic control approach, I show that school closures are associated with lower numbers of cases relative to the counterfactual group, particularly in younger age groups. In contrast, I find no significant effects on older age groups, which are more likely to require hospitalization. Finally, by exploiting survey data, I provide descriptive evidence on the increased incidence rate among teachers and students relative to the general population, following school re-openings. Keywords: COVID-19; Schools; Education; Italy (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:52:y:2024:i:c:s1570677x23001235 DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2023.101342 Access Statistics for this article Economics & Human Biology is currently edited by J. Komlos, Inas R Kelly and Joerg Baten More articles in Economics & Human Biology from Elsevier |
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