the risk of contagion in schools

[GoodTaste]

Here, the auhor uses "in" in the phrase "the risk of contagion in schools" - and I am pondering why "the risk of contagion at schools" is wrong.

"In schools" means "within the campus of schools" while "at" simply points that the address is schools. Am I on the right track? There appears to be more there. But I can't tell.

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School openings across globe suggest ways to keep coronavirus at bay, despite outbreaks
.................
Data about the outcomes are scarce. “I just find it so frustrating,” says Kathryn Edwards, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine who is advising the Nashville school system, which serves more than 86,000 students, on how to reopen. Her research assistant spent 30 hours hunting for data—for example on whether younger students are less adept at spreading the virus than older ones, and whether outbreaks followed reopenings—and found little that addressed the risk of contagion in schools.

Source: Science Jul. 7, 2020
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/202...t-ways-keep-coronavirus-bay-despite-outbreaks

 

[tedmc]

Contagion is about the risk of virus spreading in the school community.

 

[emsr2d2]

They're specifically referring to the risk inside school buildings/in a school environment.

 

[GoodTaste]

They're specifically referring to the risk inside school buildings/in a school environment.

The question of the OP is why "at schools" is wrong there.

Originally, I did want to write "within the environment of schools." But "the environment" seems to be ambiguous: Like what is the environment of your house - I would reply there are a small liberary, a hospital, banks and a lot of shops within the radius of 50 meters - together they form the environment of my house.

 

[emsr2d2]

I disagree. "The school environment" is the building and any playing fields/playgrounds that make up its official land. I think you're mixing up "environment" and "surroundings/area". There isn't a library (note the correct spelling), a hospital, banks and shops in your home environment. Your home environment extends only to its four walls and the edges of any garden/yard attached to it.

 

[TheParser]

NOT A TEACHER


GoodTaste, I went to Google and typed (with the quotation marks) "contagion at schools." I found only two pages of results (mostly from older sources). I then typed "contagion in schools." I found six pages of results. It would appear that "in" is the preferred preposition.

P.S. One result, I believe, was a tweet from President Trump. He used the preposition "at."

 

[GoodTaste]

P.S. One result, I believe, was a tweet from President Trump. He used the preposition "at."

It appears to be a good idea that we don't learn English from this president. I have a Chinese book at hand titled How to Speak English like Presidents of the United States. I believe this president is an exception.

 

[GoesStation]

It appears to be a good idea that we don't learn English from this president. I have a Chinese book at hand titled How to Speak English like Presidents of the United States. I believe this president is an exception.

He takes mangled English to an extreme, but some of his recent predecessors have also been poor exemplars. The two Bushes were notorious for this.

 

[Tdol]

You misunderestimate Bush 2.