WASHINGTON – The United States’ top pandemic adviser yesterday said authorities were considering cutting social distancing rules to 1m, a move that would change a key tenet of the global fight against Covid-19.
Anthony Fauci, a world-respected figure during the coronavirus crisis, said experts at the Disease Control and Prevention Centres (CDC) are examining a Massachusetts study that found “no substantial difference” in Covid-19 cases in schools observing 3m and 1m rules.
Asked on CNN’s “State of the Union” show whether that meant that a 1m separation is sufficient, Fauci replied, “It does, indeed”.
“The CDC is very well aware that data are accumulating and making it look like 1m is okay under certain circumstances.”
While cautioning that the CDC is still weighing the data and conducting its own tests, he said its findings will come “soon”.
The 3m social distancing rule has been a widely-adopted global measure to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, along with mask-wearing and hand-washing.
School officials across the world are under pressure to fully reopen as soon as safely possible, but many say the 3m requirement makes it difficult without adding portable classrooms or shortening the school day.
Many teachers unions have also insisted on 3m distancing.
School transmission rates
Policies on reopening schools and businesses have varied sharply around the globe as governments try to balance quelling infections with a return to normal life.
The study led by the Beth Deaconess Medical Centre in Massachusetts, surveying 251 school districts, found “no substantial difference in the number of cases of Covid-19 among either students or staff” between those observing the 1m and 3m rules when all wore masks.
The findings, published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, add to a growing body of evidence that Covid-19 transmission rates are low in schools.
A 1m rule will have an enormous impact on prospects, not only for fully reopening schools, but also for offices and even public areas, such as sports venues.
The US has the highest Covid-19 death toll in the world – now approaching 535,000 – but it has seen case numbers and fatality rates fall this year.
That trend, along with a vaccination programme that has reached millions of arms – including three million doses on just Saturday, Fauci said – has spawned growing optimism. – AFP, March 15, 2021
