I have family in Singapore and their school system did not shut. But they've been prepared for this since SARS. Classrooms have forehead thermometers. Students periodically take weeks off to study from home so they are prepared for online learning when necessary. In the wider context, there is tremendous contact tracing and employers required to comply with government guidelines. Countries like that can pull it off because their realities on the ground are very very different to ours

I have family in Netherlands, which is starting to reopen school after a period of being shut. Netherlands has handled this about the same as Maryland. In some ways, even looser restrictions than Maryland. No one is wearing face masks (outside of hospitals). Beaches have always been open (they have had some check points to avoid crowded parking lots near beaches on nice days). People are out sailing and boating and seeing each other in very small groups/numbers. They have had a similar mortality rate to US. They are still opening the schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Education can occur safely in your living rooms and bedrooms. Plus, DCUM parents like to tell us that school attendance doesn’t matter and kids “learn so much more” from that trip to Disney when it’s not crowded or a mid-October week at the lake house than they ever learn in a classroom.

Babysitting can also occur in your home. It just won’t be free.

If you have a child who is learning well in your living room/bedrooms, good for you. Also good for you if you're working well in your living room/bedrooms!

Meanwhile, for the rest of the kids, the schools need to open. It would be unacceptable if people started working again at all of the workplaces where people are not currently working, but schools stayed closed.

Seriously. Our day consists of 5-10 complete meltdowns because our son needs assistance understanding an assignment or getting clarity on how to do it. Because the time with the teacher is limited to 40 minutes a day in a group setting, he is not equipped to do the assignment. Then he asks for help constantly. My wife and I are working at home and can't stop to spend 4 hours a day teaching him. So he gets frustrated and throws a huge tantrum. Kids in elementary school need more direction and time with the teacher. There are no small groups or breakout rooms. There is just 1 class a day for 40 minutes. It's actually WORSE than when we had no assignments.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The question really is HOW did they open, and what are doing nationwide to control the spread. And most of these societies have free of close to free medical care available to all citizens which can lead to very different health outcomes, tracking and mitigation

I think that is the biggest question.
Check out this NYTimes article for a picture of what "open" looks like for various businesses and some schools from Seoul to Sydney and other cities in Asia and Australia.

No More Jenga, No More ‘Amen’ as Cities Learn to Live With Coronavirus - https://nyti.ms/2SsXCUB

I read another interview with an Ex Pat in Hong Kong who was asked if the processes in place in Hong Kong would work in the US and she said she didn't think so. They are too restrictive.

I think there is a lot we can learn from other countries and hope we do, but also wonder how the US mentality and social norms will fare in this next phase.

I am the PP you are quoting and this is exactly what I meant. Judging by DCUM and even the national news, we seem to have a much smaller inclination to make adapt