NEW YORK (AP) – Students can sit safely only 3 feet away in class as long as they wear masks, but should usually be kept 6 feet apart at sporting events, gatherings, lunch or choir practice, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday, relaxing its COVID-19 guidelines.
The revised recommendations are a departure from the 6-foot standard, which has suddenly limited the number of students who can accommodate certain schools. Some places had to move offices, change programs and take other measures to keep children out.
Three-legged “gives school districts more flexibility to have more students for an extended period of time,” said Kevin Quinn, director of maintenance and facilities at Mundelein High School in Chicago.
In recent months, schools in some states they ignored the CDC guidelines, using 3 feet as standard. Studies of what happened in some of them helped influence the agency, said Greta Massetti, who leads the CDC’s community intervention group.
“We don’t have much evidence that 6 feet are needed to maintain a low spread,” she said. Also, younger children are less likely to become seriously ill with coronavirus and do not appear to spread it as much as adults, and “this gives us confidence that the physical distance of 3 meters is safe.”
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said the revised recommendations are a “roadmap to help schools reopen safely and stay open for personal instruction.” She said that in-person schooling provides students with not only “the education they need to succeed,” but also access to essential social and mental health services.
New orientation:
– Removes recommendations for plastic shields or other barriers between offices. “We don’t have much evidence of their effectiveness in preventing transmission,” Massetti said.
– Recommends at least 3 feet of space between elementary school desks, even in cities where the spread of the community is high, as long as students and teachers wear masks and take other precautions.
– Says that the distance can also be 3 feet in middle and high schools, as long as there is no high level of spread in the community. If there is, the distance should be at least 6 feet.
The CDC said 6 feet should still be maintained in common areas, such as school halls and when masks cannot be worn, such as when eating.
Students should also be kept at a distance of 6 feet in situations where there are a lot of people talking, cheering or singing, all of which can expel the drops that contain the coronavirus. This includes choir practice, gatherings and sporting events.
Teachers and other adults should still stay 6 feet apart and students, the CDC said.
The 6-foot CDC recommendations for schools, issued last year, were the same standard applied to jobs and other settings. Instead, the World Health Organization suggested that 1 meter – just over 3 feet – was enough in schools. The American Academy of Pediatrics says offices should be 3 feet away and “ideally” 6 feet.
CDC guidance has been problematic for many schools that traditionally had 25, 30, or more children per class in tightly grouped offices. Some schools have adopted complicated programs. For example, one half of the class may come to school on some days and the other half on other days.
Some schools stopped using lockers and staggered when different classes could move between classes to avoid congestion in classrooms, where maintaining any distance can be difficult.
The Ridley school system in suburban Philadelphia has taken such steps to follow the 6-foot guide. But neighboring communities walked 3 feet, “and we don’t see that the data really reflects a different spread rate,” said Lee Ann Wentzel, district superintendent.
Even before the CDC acted, the district decided to go 3 meters away next month. Wentzel said changing the CDC guideline will make it easier to explain and defend the decision.
A recent Massachusetts study looked at students and school staff who used the 3-foot standard and those who used the 6-foot standard. It did not find any significant difference in infection rates.
Massetti said other research was also influential, including two studies the CDC launched Friday. One in Utah found low rates of coronavirus transmission among students who did a good job wearing masks and whose offices were just 3 feet away. The other study, conducted in Missouri, indicated a similar conclusion.
However, the change at the CDC has been skeptical in some areas.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said the 1.6 million-member union is reviewing the latest research, “but we are concerned that this change was due to lack of physical space, rather than the harsh science of aerosol exposure. and transmission. “
Dr. Lawrence Kleinman, a professor of pediatrics and global urban public health at Rutgers University in New Jersey, said 3 feet are “probably safe” if schools do everything right – if everyone wears masks properly all the time and washes their hands, and if the ventilation is good. But he said it’s unlikely.
“I will not send my child to a school that is 3 feet away,” said Kleinman, who has a 4-year-old daughter.
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