A new study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases examined the social distancing policy when it comes to students in schools across the state Massachusetts to see if there's much difference between six feet and three feet apart.
The study involved over 500,000 students and almost 100,000 staff over a 16-week period.
The scientists found no significant difference in the rate of Covid-19 cases among students and staff in schools that mandated six feet of distancing versus schools that mandated three feet of distancing, when universal masking is implemented.
The study concluded that "lower physical distancing policies can be adopted in school settings with masking mandates without negatively impacting student or staff safety."
The study is contained in a pdf document linked at the bottom of the Clinical Infectious Disease story below:
https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cid/ciab230/6167856
Wish they had done another group of students/staff without masks...I bet the results would not have been any different either...
Agree!
Good to know, and the sample size is impressive enough to be persuasive.. I should add that, as a teacher, I've "got some skin in the game" on this issue. Fortunately, I don't belong to a teachers' union, so I retain the power of independent analysis based on real data. 😉
Wonder what the result would be if the 3 feet were changed to 6 inches.
If anyone is still listening to this joker bureaucrat, they will need more than a jab!
Melissa is spot on - where is the study with no mask and minor distancing? They are afraid the results might be what we believe they are... Mask or no-mask very likely wouldn't matter - can't have us rabble fining that out...
What about ZERO feet of social distancing, and no mask mandates? The CDC has stated many times that children are the least vulnerable (most safe) against COVID-19. The number of deaths or serious illness in the 0 to 19 age group is so low as to be effectively non-existent. So why do they need any preventative measures at all?