The writer is a science commentator

Back in July, as rich countries were completing their adult vaccination rollouts, the science journal Nature posed a provocative question: will Covid-19 become a disease of the young?

This is now happening in some countries — by design, rather than by accident. Schools in England are reopening just as more than 28,000 new cases were recorded on Thursday. Term time is likely to spell germ time: in Scotland, where schools opened in mid-August, more under-18s are infected now than at any time in the pandemic. While lateral flow testing is continuing in England’s secondary schools, mitigations such as masking and bubbles are no longer prescribed. Isolation requirements when pupils or family members test positive, are loosening.