December 29, 2020
Hit “play” on UNESCO’s interactive world map tracing coronavirus-related school closures since February, and you can watch how quickly Covid-19 invaded countries and wreaked havoc on school systems around the world.
In the beginning, almost every country is shaded blue, indicating that schools are open in those nations. Only China is pink, meaning its schools are partially shut. After a few days tick by, China flips to purple all classrooms are closed. It’s soon joined by Italy, then the US, Canada, and Europe, all the places where public health officials ordered strict lockdowns. Eventually, there are flashes of pink and purple erupting