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#CDC urges ‘cohorting’ and masks in coronavirus guidance for schools

#CDC urges ‘cohorting’ and masks in coronavirus guidance for schools

July 24, 2020 | 12:04pm | Updated July 24, 2020 | 12:29pm

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday night released long-awaited guidance on reopening schools during the coronavirus pandemic, urging masks, diligent cleaning and the strategic limiting of social interactions.

The guidance comes as President Trump pushes for schools to open in the fall after they closed in March, warning students are falling behind educationally and that needy children are missing meals and important social services.

“One important strategy that administrators can consider is cohorting (or ‘pods’), where a group of students (and sometimes teachers) stay together throughout the school day to minimize exposure for students, teachers, and staff across the school environment,” the guidance says.

“Cohorting” would be a particularly useful strategy in regions where there is significant presence of COVID-19, the guidance says. If one member of a cohort gets sick, everyone can stay home and get tested without closing the school.

Staggering of schedules also can be used to prevent spread of the virus that’s infected 4 million Americans and killed 144,000.

School districts can consider staggering “arrival and drop-off times or locations by cohort or put in place other protocols to limit contact between cohorts and direct contact with parents as much as possible,” the CDC says.

Cloth face coverings should be used by students, the guidance says, pointing to Taiwan’s experience keeping schools open. The island nation has a population larger than New York state but fewer than 500 confirmed coronavirus cases.

The health agency urges “physical distancing within buses, classrooms and other areas of the school.”

Schools are in most cases run by local officials in the US, and practices are likely to vary widely. The CDC guidance notes that areas with high and uncontrolled transmission of the virus should consider closing.

In general, “a single case of COVID-19 in a school would not likely warrant closing the entire school, especially if levels of community transmission are not high,” the guidance says.

But to limit possible transmission, schools should “increase circulation of outdoor air as much as possible, for example by opening windows and doors,” the guidance says.

Drinking fountains, sports equipment and door handles should be disinfected frequently. Items that cannot easily be disinfected should not be used.

A fact sheet released by the CDC says “published reports from contact tracing of students with COVID-19 in schools from France, Australia, and Ireland suggest that students are not as likely to transmit the virus to other students compared to household contacts.”

Still, the CDC acknowledges conflicting overseas anecdotes on whether reopening schools increases transmission of the virus. In Denmark, cases among children increased slightly before declining, the CDC says, whereas in Israel infections soared, though broader social rules had been relaxed.

CDC Director Robert Redfield
CDC Director Robert RedfieldManuel Balce Ceneta

The CDC says in the US this summer, “Texas reported more than 1,300 COVID-19 cases in childcare centers; however, twice as many staff members had been diagnosed as children, suggesting that children may be at lower risk of getting COVID-19 than adults.”

At a Thursday press briefing at the White House, Trump said it was essential for students to return to schools.

“We cannot indefinitely stop 50 million American children from going to school — harming their mental, physical, and emotional development. Reopening our schools is also critical to ensuring that parents can go to work and provide for their families,” he said.

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