Around the world, safely reopening schools remains one of the most daunting challenges to restarting national economies. While approaches have been different, no country has tried to reopen schools with coronavirus infection rates at the level of the United States. Today, we explore the risks and rewards of the plan to reopen American schools this fall. Guest: Pam Belluck, a health and science writer at The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• The pressure to bring American students back to classrooms is intense, but the calculus is tricky with infections out of control in many communities.
• Local economies might not fully recover until working parents can send children to school. Here’s why the plan to reopen New York City schools is so important.