While in the Netherlands we had already a relatively high incidence of corona cases, the Dutch government kept postponing to close down schools.
Their argument was that children can carry the virus but don’t get sick easily from it. The other argument was that parents who work in the health sector cannot stay home with their children.
But children can infect teachers and parents. And children of heath care workers, about 10% of the total workforce, can be accommodated in other ways, while the 90% other children can stay home.
Thanks to widespread protests from more sensible citizens, the government finally closed schools now.
But why did it take the government so long to do close schools? Want my guess, based on decades of mind boggling observations in circles of policy makers?
The blindness may reveal the top-down thinking of cabinet ministers and leading health care advisors. Whatever part of the reality reaches their minds, they take as the full reality.
Had they consulted teachers and parents at an early stage, they would have known the reality on the ground, and precluded their show of top-down ignorance.
Perhaps they would have saved more people from the virus then they do now.