Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases on Thursday said that the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) will be probably update the guidance for social distancing for schools, reducing it from 6 feet to 3 feet, reported The Hill.
“You know, I think that likely will happen,” said Fauci on NBC’s “Today” show on Thursday.
He pointed on a recent study made in Massachusetts, which showed that constant wearing mask combined with 3 feet of separation in schools is just as efficient as 6 feet social distancing.
A little difference in case rates among students and staff members was noted in the study that compared 251 school districts with different distancing requirements, as long as the staff members and students were wearing masks constantly.
“So the CDC is analyzing that data very carefully right now. They very well may change. I don’t want to get ahead of them. But they are very much on top of this and looking at that data. So they will reconsider about that distance,” said Fauci.
Many schools cannot apply the 6 feet distance between students because is not possible, and in some schools there is no distancing at all. The recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization is a minimum of 3 feet distance.
The main point in the school reopening debate was exactly the 6 feet distancing insisted by the CDC. The agency pointed that the transmission of the virus is not that often in the school, compared to the surrounding community, and that in-person schooling is not the major driver of the spreading.
Rochelle Walensky, the CDC Director told lawmakers on Wednesday that the agency is “looking to update” the guidance for distancing, but they are not bonded with any timelines.
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