Center for Health Security Senior Scholar Dr. Tara Kirk Sell Testifies at Maryland State Senate

August 30, 2021 – Dr. Tara Kirk Sell, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at the  Bloomberg School of Public Health, provided expert testimony at a hearing at the Maryland State Senate on safely returning to in-person K-12 school today.

The hearing was convened by the Maryland Senate Committee on Education, Health and Environmental Affairs.

“No one measure will provide perfect protection from the virus that causes COVID-19,” said Dr. Sell in her testimony. “But a constellation of imperfect solutions will go a long way to reduce risks to kids and to others in the community who may be affected by increased transmission.  These measures can include masking, ventilation, air filtration, spacing, and testing, among others. Reducing risks from COVID-19 does not have to be an all or nothing approach; the combination of many risk reduction measures adds up.” 

Watch the full testimony, starting at 1:09:54. (YouTube)

Read the full testimony. (PDF)