Children should return to classrooms across the country as soon as possible amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) announced, saying evidence indicates that personal education can be kept safe as long as social distance and mask occurs. carry protocols are in place.
At the same time, local officials should limit indoor eateries, bars and poorly ventilated gyms to keep infection rates in the wider community low, the CDC researchers wrote in a report published in the journal JAMA on Tuesday, January 26th.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected K-12 schools across the United States,” the report said. “Upcoming data now indicates a way forward to maintain or return mainly or completely after personal delivery.
‘Actions include taking steps to reduce the transfer of communities and limiting school-related activities such as indoor sports or competition that may increase the transfer risk.
‘As the COVID-19 pandemic developed rapidly in the spring and summer of 2020, community centers experienced rapid and widespread SARS-CoV-2 transmission, including both residential congregations (e.g. long-term care facilities, correctional facilities) and high-density occupational institutions (eg meat and poultry processing facilities).
The planning for the school year 2020/2021 included a lot of uncertainty about the risk of transfer in the school environment. Although the benefits of personal school attendance are well understood, the appropriate evaluation of the risks versus benefits is hampered by limited information about the transfer risk in classroom settings .
“By closing schools, students’ academic progress, mental health and access to essential services could be adversely affected. However, if SARS-CoV-2 spreads rapidly in classrooms, the opening of schools could accelerate the transmission of the virus through the community. were no easy decisions for parents teachers, administrators or public officials
‘As many schools have reopened for personal education in some parts of the US as well as internationally, school-related cases of COVID-19 have been reported, but there is little evidence that schools have contributed significantly to the greater transfer of community. “
The full report can be viewed here.
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