Having ditched masks for most students, Northern Europeans now move to dramatically reduce disruptive quarantines.

Public health officials are emphasizing a shift from strict Covid measures to increased normalcy for students and families.

One might be forgiven for thinking it is 2019 when looking at pictures of Northern European schools reopening. For example, this Dutch primary school:

Most children in the region won’t be masking this year — and, if they do, it will just be in the hallway or secondary schools — and social distancing rules, never strictly enforced, have disappeared as students return to schools operating at full capacity.

Fortunately, one of the most disruptive Covid mitigation measures still remaining at the start of the academic year in many countries — quarantining children exposed to a positive case at school — is also beginning to vanish.

How are Northern European countries handling students exposed to positive cases at school?

In Norway, a “test to stay” quarantine model — also adopted by states like Massachusetts and Utah — is being implemented. Rather than forcing children exposed to an infected peer to stay home, Norway’s policy will allow them to test and, if negative, remain at school.

Testing will replace quarantine as the primary strategy to contain outbreaks for two reasons, according to Guldvog.

Firstly, more people will be vaccinated by the time schools return, minimizing the risk of outbreaks in schools spreading to wider society.

Secondly, schools should expect larger class sizes and a return to more normal schooling this fall, more on that later, making it impractical to quarantine everybody who comes into contact with a student who tests positive, as is currently the case.

So instead, mass testing will be used so students who test negative will still be able to attend school to avoid disruption.

Denmark, which recently lifted almost all Covid restrictions, is implementing a similar policy intended to ensure…