The CDC previously said schools should try to maintain at least 6 feet of distance between children, but in light of new data, the agency now recommends that most students maintain at least 3 feet of distance.
On Friday, the agency unveiled three new studies, which say it will support the 3-foot distance between students as long as everyone wears a mask and other preventative measures are in place. Another study recently published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases found that there was no difference in Covid-19 rates between Massachusetts schools that required 3 feet of physical distance compared to 6 feet, as long as everyone wore masks has.
The CDC director, dr. Rochelle Walensky, said Thursday the issue is urgent.
“Indeed, because six feet there was such a challenge, science has leaned and there are now emerging studies on the question between three feet and six feet,” Walensky told sen. Susan Collins said during a hearing by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
What’s in the CDC leadership?
As always, masks are the most important. At times when it is not possible to accommodate masks, such as during meals, CDC says a distance of six meters.
CDC also recommends 6 feet distance in general areas, such as foyers and auditoriums, and during activities such as singing, shouting, orchestra, or sports exercises. They say it is better to move such activities, where increased exhalation occurs, to outside or to well-ventilated spaces.
In classrooms, CDC says that layout changes, such as the removal of non-essential furniture and the direction of desks in the same direction, can help maximize the distance between students. On school buses, the agency recommends putting students one child per row, skipping rows and opening windows to increase ventilation.
When it comes to adults, including teachers and staff, the agency says it’s better to keep 6 feet away, both with other adults and with children.
“Several studies have found that transfer between staff is more common than transfer between students and staff, and among students, in schools,” the agency says.
CDC recommends limiting interaction between teachers and staff during meetings and breaks.
Low protection
For schools returning to the classroom, it is important to put in place low safety measures. If one does not succeed, another will provide some protection, said dr.
She said the updated guidance would offer schools more options.
CDC says Covid-19 tests can provide additional protection for sports and in schools that use less than 6 feet of distance between students in classrooms.
“You always have to think about the layers that are in place,” Bardach said. “What are those other layers? It’s the masking, it’s the ventilation, hand hygiene, symptom testing and then exposure control. It thinks of all the layers together.”
Dr. Ebbing Lautenbach, head of the Infectious Diseases Division at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, told CNN that the new CDC leadership should make it easier for schools to return to full-time personal education as opposed to the distributed school attendance.
“Teaching children to learn personally again is logically very difficult from a spatial point of view if you have to keep them 6 feet apart, so changing the lead to 3 feet will make things much more feasible for children. again in -personal classroom learning, ‘Lautenbach said.
However, he warned that the most important assumption for the updated recommendation on physical distance is that all students and teachers wear appropriate face masks.
Ashley Ahn and Elizabeth Cohen of CNN contributed to this story.