http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/does-closing-schools-slow-spread-novel-coronavirus

As the societal disruptions from COVID-19 spread and intensify, a question for many in the United States is, what about schools? Schools in Japan, Italy, parts of China, and elsewhere have shuttered. A small but increasing number in the United States are following suit, whether for a day, a week, or longer.

But does shutting a school help a broader community, especially when the role played by children in spreading COVID-19 remains uncertain? Nicholas Christakis, a social scientist and physician at Yale University, thinks it does, but he recognizes that questions around closing schools are difficult. Christakis studies social networks and is developing software and statistical methods to forecast an epidemic’s spread before it happens.