In memory of Robert Devet (d. September 27, 2021), founder, publisher and editor of the Nova Scotia Advocate. This site is preserved as an archive of the Advocate’s journalism from 2016 to 2021, and as a tribute to Robert’s work. No new articles are published, and comments, forms and search are closed. Read the tribute →

Questions around the relationship between the spread of Covid and class sizes caused these mathematics professors to run some simulations. The model made a very surprising prediction: as class sizes go up, the negative impacts of COVID-19 go up exponentially faster. The worst scenario, by a wide margin, was the 30:1 ratio in the primary school setting.