Federal health officials on Friday announced updated guidelines on physical distancing in schools, saying now that students should only be 3 feet apart instead of 6 feet apart.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), students can maintain a distance of three feet or more in the classroom setting as long as there is universal masking, a change that could accelerate the reopening of schools.
The recommendation is for all K-12 students, regardless of whether community transmission is low, moderate, or substantial, the CDC said.
High school and high school students should be at least 6 feet apart in communities where transmission is high, according to the CDC, if cohort is not possible. The cohort is when groups of students stay together with the same classmates and staff throughout the school day to reduce the risk of spreading throughout the school. According to the CDC, older students are more likely to be exposed to and spread of COVID-19 than younger children.
The CDC also recommends 6 feet away in common areas, such as lobbies and auditoriums, and during activities such as singing, shouting, band, or sports.
Health officials in recent days have advanced recommendations and said they will better reflect changing science.
“CDC is committed to leading science and updating our guidelines as new evidence emerges,” the CDC director said. Rochelle WalenskyRochelle Walensky The urgency of keeping COVID-19 testing in the workplace Fauci: CDC will likely reduce distance guidance for schools SEE LIVE: Fauci, director of CDC, will declare COVID-19 MORE he said in a statement. “Safe in-person instruction provides our children with access to critical mental and social health services that prepare them for the future, in addition to the education they need to succeed. These updated recommendations provide the roadmap based on the evidence to help schools reopen safely and stay open for in-person instruction. ”
Three feet is the minimum distance endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization. For many schools, it is not feasible to keep students 6 feet away. In some cases, there is no distancing.
But teacher unions are unlikely to support the idea. Although he said the trial would be reserved until he read the guidelines more carefully, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, told CNN on Friday that he is concerned that classrooms may be busier, especially in without adequate ventilation.
CDC’s insistence on the 6-foot separation has been a turning point in the school’s reopening debate. The agency has recognized that face-to-face schooling is not one of the main drivers of community outreach and that virus transmission is rarer in schools compared to the surrounding community.
However, the latest CDC guidelines last month suggest that schools located in communities with low or moderate virus transmission implement 6 feet of distance “as far as possible.”
Walensky on Wednesday he told members of the House Energy and Trade Oversight Subcommittee that the agency was “seeking to update” its guidelines based on new data.
“As soon as our orientation came out, it became very clear that 6 feet was one of the things that kept schools closed, and in that context, science is evolving,” Walensky said.
Updated at 12:17 p.m.