CDC says schools can reopen if precautions are taken
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday said a “preponderance of evidence” shows that schools can reopen for in-person learning, as long as proper precautions are taken.
But communities also must be willing to implement limitations on other settings outside of the classroom in order to keep infection rates low.
In an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, officials from the CDC said data showed that rapid spread within schools is rare, and school districts can bring students back.
The recommendation, though, came with several provisos.
Measures required for students to return to the classroom include mask-wearing and social distancing at all times; increased room air ventilation; continuing to offer online classes for high-risk students and staff; and expanding testing to identify and isolate asymptomatic people.
Hybrid learning should also continue in order to limit the number of contacts among students.
And school administrators must limit risky indoor activities, including indoor sports – where events have been linked to rapid spread – and indoor group interactions.
The restrictions for students to return to in-person learning, the CDC says, will take a community effort.
Communities must help mitigate the spread of COVID-19, which calls for prohibiting events that have been shown to cause rapid spread such as indoor dining and poorly ventilated gymnasiums.
“The preponderance of available evidence from the fall school semester has been reassuring insofar as the type of rapid spread that was frequently observed in congregate living facilities or high-density worksites has not been reported in education settings in schools,” the report said. “Preventing transmission in school settings will require addressing and reducing levels of transmission in the surrounding communities through policies to interrupt transmission.”
While cases of COVID are occurring in schools, the CDC said there is little evidence that shows schools “contributed meaningfully to increased community transmission.”
The CDC noted 11 school districts in North Carolina that had more than 90,000 students and staff attended in-person learning for nine weeks in the fall of 2020.
During that time, the districts recorded 32 infections within the school, while the communities saw 773 infections, according to the CDC.
The CDC points out that spread still can occur in schools, noting a large high school in Israel that saw more than 175 cases between students and teachers in May of 2020. But the agency said crowded classrooms, a lack of masks, and continuous recycled air through air conditioners played roles in the rapid spread.
“Decisions made today can help ensure safe operation of schools and provide critical services to children and adolescents in the U.S. Some of these decisions may be difficult,” the report said.