The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cut in half the distance students should remain from one another in classrooms, a step that could speed the reopening of schools.

In guidelines updated Friday, the nation’s public-health agency said K-12 students should remain at least 3 feet apart in classrooms rather than the 6 feet it had recommended previously, a change it said was made possible by new scientific findings.

The agency also removed a recommendation that schools install physical barriers such as sneeze guards, partitions or tape and urged schools to consider Covid-19 symptom screening for sports and extracurricular activities.

“I’m hopeful that we are turning a corner on this pandemic,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said. “Getting our children back to school in-person instruction as soon as possible is a critical first step in doing so.”

Source: https://www.wsj.com/articles/cdc-revises-physical-distancing-recommendation-for-schoolchildren-11616166132?mod=hp_lead_pos2