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Children should return to classrooms as soon as possible across the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) said, saying evidence indicates that in-person teaching can be safely dispensed as long as social distancing and mask-wearing protocols are in place.
At the same time, local authorities should limit indoor meals, poorly ventilated bars and gyms in order to keep infection rates low in the community as a whole, CDC researchers wrote in a published report. Tuesday, January 26 in the JAMA magazine.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected K-12 schools across the United States,” the report says. “The accumulation of data now suggests a way forward to maintain or return primarily or entirely to in-person teaching.
“Actions include taking measures to reduce community transmission and limiting school activities such as playing indoor sports or competing that could increase the risk of transmission.
“As the COVID-19 pandemic progressed rapidly in the spring and summer of 2020, gathering environments experienced rapid and widespread transmission of SARS-CoV-2, including both collective residential settings (for example , long-term care facilities, correctional facilities) and density of workplaces (eg, meat and poultry processing facilities).
“Planning for the 2020/2021 school year involved great uncertainty as to the risk of transmission in schools. While the benefits of in-person school attendance were understood, the proper assessment of its risks versus benefits was hampered by limited information about the risk of transmission. in class.
“School closures could affect students’ academic progress, mental health and access to essential services; however, if SARS-CoV-2 spread quickly in classrooms, opening schools could accelerate community transmission of the virus. There was no simple decision for parents. , teachers, administrators or civil servants.2,3
“As many schools have reopened for in-person instruction in parts of the United States as well as overseas, school-related cases of COVID-19 have been reported, but there is little evidence that schools have contributed significantly to increased community transmission. “
The full report can be viewed here.
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