Coronavirus: the five strategies they recommend in the United States to reopen schools

WASHINGTON.- The main public health agency in the United States provided this Friday a roadmap with five recommendations to reopen schools amid the pandemic.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the long-awaited update, but were careful to clarify that they were not calling for schools to reopen in the United States. Anyway, they said now there is strong evidence that face-to-face education can be delivered safelyespecially at lower levels, the advice is therefore directed to schools that teach Kindergarten to Grade 12.

The five strategies include: universal and correct use of masks; physical distancing; hand washing; cleaning of facilities and improvement of ventilation; and surveillance, isolation and quarantine of close contacts in the event of contagion.

The guide was published when the president Joe biden faces increasing pressure to keep its promise most schools resume in-person teaching at the end of their first 100 days in office. The White House said this week that science will guide a national strategy.

It is generally accepted that face-to-face lessons are more effective, but also that students can face isolation and learning difficulties at home. But Teacher unions in some areas say schools have failed to make buildings safe enough to return to.

CDC officials noted that in-person learning it has not been identified as a major driver of the spread of the coronavirus. And this transmission between students is now considered relatively rare.

The CDC pointed out that the safest way to open schools is make sure there are as few infections as possible in a community. The agency urged local officials to assess whether a severe outbreak is occurring in each region when making decisions about sending adults and children to school.

The guide includes a color coded table, blue to red, on the assessment of the spread in the community, including the rate of new cases per 100,000 population and the percentage of positive tests.

Anyway, strong community transmission does not necessarily mean that schools cannot be opened, especially primary ones. If mitigation measures are strictly followed in schools, the risk of spread to schools is expected to be lowsuggests the guide.

The document states that when infections are exacerbated in a community, elementary schools can become hybrids, teaching in person for at least a few days, But colleges and high schools could go virtual.

Biden was caught between competing interests while struggling to get students back into the classroom without confronting the powerful teachers’ unions which contributed to his election. Critics say he bowed to the unions rather than take more aggressive action on the reopening.

Unlike the former president Donald trump, who pressured schools to open and criticized the CDC for issuing guidelines that said it was not recommended, Biden stayed away from the CDC while following its recommendations. Even after the CDC director recently said vaccines are not a prerequisite for reopening, the White House has refused to take a firm stance on the issue.

Bring students back to class it is considered a key for parents to return to work. As part of Biden’s coronavirus relief program, he calls for $ 130 billion to help schools upgrade buildings, purchase protective equipment and adopt other recommended safety measures.

AP

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