An analysis by The Daily Wire revealed that prolonged school closures during the coronavirus pandemic did not reduce the number of deaths among children compared to schools that remained open.
The study, based on federal data and information from COVID School Data Hub, notes "little connection between school closure policies and the number of deaths per million children." The study analyzes the behavior of schools across the country between August 2020 and May 2021. The data shows 763 children aged five to 17 dying of COVID between January 2020 and last month. This represents about 2% of the 32,101 children who died during the same period from other conditions:
Across the country, COVID was a negligible cause of child mortality, the data shows: For every child that died with COVID, nearly 50 died for other reasons.
Washington vs. Wyoming
Washington, D.C. had the highest rate of coronavirus deaths among children (95 deaths per million children), even though its schools were almost completely closed during the 2020-2021 school year.
On the other hand, Wyoming, which has a population size nearly identical to that of the nation's capital and whose schools remained open longer than any other state, recorded zero deaths among children. Wyoming was one of three states that did not order the closure of schools for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year by May 2020.
Vermont also reported zero COVID deaths among minors. Sixteen states reported between one and nine deaths by children due to COVID. Most of these had Republican governors.
