CDC eases regulations on school desk distancing
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced an update to its coronavirus prevention guidelines Friday that reduces the minimum required physical distance in classrooms from 6 feet to 3 feet.
The recommendation comes with several limitations, and does not apply to adults or to other shared spaces on school grounds. Still, even with a host of caveats, the change could make it easier for more children to return to in-person learning, experts said.
The 3-foot rule applies only in classrooms where mask use is universal. However, it can be safely implemented regardless of whether community transmission is low, moderate, substantial or high, authorities said.
And it carries an asterisk: The 6foot rule stays in place for middle school and high school students whose communities have a high rate of transmission and where it’s not possible for students to remain in small cohorts with the same peers and staff in order to reduce the risk of viral spread. The reason, the CDC said, is that older students are more likely than younger children to be exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and spread it to others.
Outside of the classroom, the agency recommended that the 6foot rule be followed in these settings:
• Between adults, and between adults and students, in school buildings.
• In common areas, such as lobbies and auditoriums.
• In situations when masks can’t be worn, such as when eating.
• During activities when increased exhalation occurs, such as singing, shouting, band practice, sports or exercise (these activities should be moved outdoors or to large, well-ventilated spaces wherever possible, the agency noted).
The recommendation for 6 feet of physical distancing still holds in community settings outside the classroom, the CDC added.
The new advice closely follows a study of 537,336 students and 99,390 staff members in 251 Massachusetts school districts. After accounting for differences in infection rates in the community, researchers found that coronavirus case rates among both students and staff were essentially the same in schools that adopted a 3-foot rule as in those that followed the 6-foot rule. Those findings were published last week in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, said the agency will continue to revise its guidance for schools to incorporate new scientific evidence as it emerges.
“Safe in-person instruction gives our kids access to critical social and mental health services that prepare them for the future, in addition to the education they need to succeed,” Walensky said in a statement. “These updated recommendations provide the evidence-based roadmap to help schools reopen safely, and remain open, for in-person instruction.”