School closures have been used to help tackle COVID-19. Meta-analyses and reviews suggest that children are unlikely to be the main drivers of the pandemic and that opening schools and kindergartens is unlikely to increase COVID-19 mortality rates in older people.1 Croatia closed its schools on 16 March 2020 and they reopened in week 37, 7 September 2020, after the summer holidays. Public Health guidelines for the reopening included mandatory hand hygiene and face masks for children grades 5 (10/11 year olds) and above. Schools were also told to adopt other social distancing measures, including staggered arrival and departure times and student bubbles.
Re‐opening schools in Croatia did not have a negative impact on children under 14, but it could not be ruled out in older children