When Florida mandated that all its public schools return to face-to-face instruction by August 31, 2020, most people expected a surge in COVID-19 cases among schoolchildren, but the surge didn’t happen.
The schools didn’t open haphazardly: Students still had to wear masks and practice social distancing. Many also attended class on a graduated or “hybrid” schedule that brought them to school at different hours, so they had less contact time with each other than they would have in a normal school day.
When it came to higher education, though, Alachua County, home to the University of Florida, and Leon County, home to Florida A&M, had record coronavirus case numbers of young adults rise.
Investigators think one reason for that may be that college students are in classes with strict coronavirus precautions only a couple hours a day, and then when they leave class they socialize more, and many also work.
SOURCE: USA Today September 28, 2020