The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Thursday that puts more of a burden on high-risk individuals to protect themselves from the virus and de-emphasizes some common prevention strategies school districts have adopted throughout the pandemic.
The recommendations鈥攚hich represent a shift in national public health strategy鈥攃ome after many schools have started a new school year without precautions like mask requirements, even in areas where the CDC recommends facial coverings.
Among the biggest changes: a shift in how the agency says schools should handle possible exposures to COVID-19. Rather than quarantining after an exposure, the recommendations say students and staff should remain in school, wear a 鈥渨ell-fitting mask,鈥� and get tested. Also gone is guidance on 鈥渢est-to-stay鈥� strategies, under which schools allow students who鈥檝e been exposed to the virus remain at school if they agree to take periodic tests.
鈥淭his latest guidance from the CDC should give our students, parents, and educators the confidence they need to head back to school this year with a sense of joy and optimism,鈥� U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement. 鈥淲hile COVID continues to evolve, so has our understanding of the science and what it takes to return to school safely.鈥�
The CDC no longer recommends 鈥渃ohorting鈥� students in classrooms to reduce the risk of transmission within school buildings. And the document also says strategies like regular testing of asymptomatic people for screening purposes鈥攅mployed by large school systems like Los Angeles鈥攕hould be reserved for higher-risk settings like congregate care facilities, rather than schools in low-risk areas.
鈥�69传媒 and [early childhood education] programs can also consider recommending masking and/or testing for a classroom in which a student was recently exposed who is unable to consistently and correctly wear a mask,鈥� the new guidance says.
A shifting strategy for public health鈥攁nd for schools
Public health officials say a combination of exposure, vaccinations, and boosters may have helped reduce the risk for severe illness in many individuals.
鈥淭his guidance acknowledges that the pandemic is not over, but also helps us move to a point where COVID-19 no longer severely disrupts our daily lives,鈥� said Greta Massetti, a CDC official who wrote the new recommendations.
But some epidemiologists have warned Education Week that super-contagious COVID-19 variants like BA.2 still threaten to disrupt school staffing and operations as even vaccinated teachers, staff, and students run the risk of repeated infections from the strains. And some advocates for people with disabilities have said public health agencies have moved too fast in lifting precautions.
Some school administrators told Education Week in recent weeks they weren鈥檛 waiting on the agency to set protocols for the new school year, which has already started in many communities throughout the country.
Community considerations should drive strategies, CDC says
Administrators may need to customize their approaches by adding requirements like masking or testing in instances of high absenteeism or school outbreaks, the new guidance said.
The CDC continues to recommend masks in 鈥渉igh community level areas,鈥� and it says high-risk individuals should consider masks in medium-risk areas. By Thursday, 41.7 percent of U.S. counties had high community levels, a metric that factors in hospital capacity and rates of severe illness.
The document stops short of directing schools to mandate universal masking. Federal officials have said high-risk students, including those with disabilities, may need classmates or those in close proximity to mask as an educational accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
鈥�69传媒 with students at risk for getting very sick with COVID-19 must make reasonable modifications when necessary to ensure that all students, including , are able to access in-person learning,鈥� the guidance says. 鈥�69传媒 might need to require masking in settings such as classrooms or during activities to protect students with immunocompromising conditions or other conditions that increase their risk for getting very sick with COVID-19 in accordance with applicable federal, state, or local laws and policies.鈥�
The new guidance also eliminates recommendations of 3 or 6 feet of social distancing in various settings, which many school officials have called impractical or impossible in their facilities. Instead, it says individuals at high risk for severe illness should avoid crowds.
69传媒 should continue to encourage COVID-19 vaccines and boosters, the CDC said, including through on-site clinics.
They should optimize ventilation, and direct students to stay home and test when they have symptoms of sickness, the CDC said. And they should promote testing by offering on-site tests and by referring students to community sites and at-home testing kits, the guidance said.
