US backs distance of 3 feet between students, may help get kids back in schools | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Wednesday
June 18, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2025
US backs distance of 3 feet between students, may help get kids back in schools

Coronavirus chronicle

Reuters
20 March, 2021, 03:35 pm
Last modified: 20 March, 2021, 03:53 pm

Related News

  • US moving fighter jets to Middle East as Israel-Iran war rages
  • Israel-Iran War: Russia says Israel's attacks illegal, UAE warns of 'uncalculated, reckless steps'
  • US issues 'do not travel' alert for Israel
  • Lost angels: How the West is turning against the very immigrants who helped build it
  • Marines prepare for Los Angeles deployment as protests spread across US

US backs distance of 3 feet between students, may help get kids back in schools

Many schools continue to teach students remotely more than a year after the novel coronavirus prompted widespread closures across the United States

Reuters
20 March, 2021, 03:35 pm
Last modified: 20 March, 2021, 03:53 pm
Students eat individually as they have to be 6 feet part from each other due to social distancing, on the first day back to school after coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions were adjusted, in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. March 17, 2021. REUTERS/Amira Karaoud
Students eat individually as they have to be 6 feet part from each other due to social distancing, on the first day back to school after coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions were adjusted, in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. March 17, 2021. REUTERS/Amira Karaoud

The US government on Friday updated its Covid-19 mitigation guidance, halving the acceptable distance between students who are wearing masks to at least three feet (0.91 m) from at least six feet, potentially easing the path for schools that have struggled to reopen under previous guidelines.

The new recommendation from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is a boost to the Biden administration's goal of reopening in-person learning for millions of public school students without sparking coronavirus outbreaks.

"The revised CDC guidance is a great step," said Dr Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar with the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. It "reflects the fact that schools ... are not drivers of infections," he added.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

Many schools continue to teach students remotely more than a year after the novel coronavirus prompted widespread closures across the United States.

The new guidance was based on data from schools in Utah, Missouri and Florida that suggests transmission of Covid-19 in schools is relatively low when precautions such as mask-wearing are employed, including in cases where students do not maintain six feet of distance.

The guidance applies to students from kindergarten through high school and in areas with low, moderate, and substantial community transmission of Covid-19.

Middle and high school students in communities with high levels of Covid-19 should stay six feet apart unless their schoolday contact can be limited to a single small group of students and staff, CDC said.

"I want to emphasize that these recommendations are specific to students in classrooms with universal mask-wearing," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said in a news conference.

Students should continue to maintain six feet of distance when interacting with teachers and other school staff and when eating, the agency said.

The CDC has been under pressure to relax its guidance to schools to help get students back into classrooms. Walensky said this week the agency was looking at data in part from a recent study in Massachusetts that suggested tighter spacing had not increased virus transmission.

One of the CDC studies released on Friday looked at 20 elementary schools in Utah during a period of high Covid-19 transmission in the broader community. It showed that in-school transmission rates among masked students were low even though they maintained an average distance between seats of only three feet.

Many schools do not have the space in classrooms to maintain six feet between students.

Billions for Testing

The guidance urged schools to conduct widespread Covid-19 testing of students, saying regular use of such screening offers added protection for schools unable to assure six feet of separation.

School districts should expand screenings for students participating in sports or other extracurricular activities, and consider universal screening prior to athletic events, the guidance added.

The agency continues to recommend quarantines for anyone who has been within six feet of someone infected with Covid-19 for more than 15 minutes within a 24-hour period.

The White House on Wednesday said it would allocate $10 billion to states to support Covid-19 testing for teachers, staff and students to help facilitate resumption of in-person instruction.

The funding, along with recent US regulatory guidance for screening people without Covid-19 symptoms, will boost demand for coronavirus testing, Quidel Corp Chief Executive Douglas Bryant said.

Quidel may need to give school districts priority over other customers, such as employers, as it allocates its supply of Covid-19 tests, Bryant said in an interview.

"We might preferentially support school testing to the extent we can," Bryant said.

The CDC said students are required to wear masks on school buses and any other forms of public transit they use to get to school. The agency issued an order in February requiring travellers to wear masks when using public transit.

The Biden administration has urged states to prioritize vaccination of teachers and childcare workers, with the goal of getting all of them inoculated by the end of March.

Top News / World+Biz

US / School / Students / kids

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • US President Donald Trump points a finger as he departs for Canada to attend the G7 Leaders' Summit, from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, US, June 15, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
    Trump demands Iran's 'unconditional surrender' as Israel-Iran air war rages on
  • Infographics: Duniya Jahan/TBS
    How Israel's secret nuclear arsenal comes under spotlight amid attacks on Iran
  • Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei and US president-elect Donald Trump. Photo: Collected
    'Not going to kill Khamenei, at least for now', says Trump, claiming US knows Iran's supreme leader's location

MOST VIEWED

  • Former Bangladesh High Commissioner to the UK Saida Muna Tasneem. Photo: Collected
    ACC launches inquiry against ex-Bangladesh envoy Saida Muna, husband over laundering Tk2,000cr
  • Infograph: TBS
    Ship congestion at Ctg port lingers as berthing time rises
  • A view of Iranian missiles across the sky as seen by Biman pilot Enam Talukder. Photo: Enam Talukder
    Biman pilot witnessed Iran's missiles flying towards Israel
  • Power Division wants Tk56,000cr PDB loans turned into subsidy
    Power Division wants Tk56,000cr PDB loans turned into subsidy
  • BNP leader Ishraque Hossain held a view-exchange meeting with waste management officials and Dhaka South City Corporation staff inside Nagar Bhaban on 16 June 2025. Photos: Hasan Mehedi
    Ishraque holds Nagar Bhaban meeting as 'Dhaka South mayor', says it’s people’s demand
  • Bangladesh gains bigger share in US apparel market as China loses ground, sees 29% export growth in Jan-Apr
    Bangladesh gains bigger share in US apparel market as China loses ground, sees 29% export growth in Jan-Apr

Related News

  • US moving fighter jets to Middle East as Israel-Iran war rages
  • Israel-Iran War: Russia says Israel's attacks illegal, UAE warns of 'uncalculated, reckless steps'
  • US issues 'do not travel' alert for Israel
  • Lost angels: How the West is turning against the very immigrants who helped build it
  • Marines prepare for Los Angeles deployment as protests spread across US

Features

The Kallyanpur Canal is burdened with more than 600,000 kilograms of waste every month. Photo: Courtesy

Kallyanpur canal project shows how to combat plastic pollution in Dhaka

10h | Panorama
The GLS600 overall has a curvaceous nature, with seamless blends across every panel. PHOTO: Arfin Kazi

Mercedes Maybach GLS600: Definitive Luxury

1d | Wheels
Renowned authors Imdadul Haque Milon, Mohit Kamal, and poet–children’s writer Rashed Rouf seen at Current Book Centre, alongside the store's proprietor, Shahin. Photo: Collected

From ‘Screen and Culture’ to ‘Current Book House’: Chattogram’s oldest surviving bookstore

2d | Panorama
Photos: Collected

Kurtis that make a great office wear

4d | Mode

More Videos from TBS

What's behind the animosity between former allies Iran and Israel?

What's behind the animosity between former allies Iran and Israel?

7h | Others
21 Muslim countries condemn Israeli attack on Iran

21 Muslim countries condemn Israeli attack on Iran

7h | TBS World
News of The Day, 17 JUNE 2025

News of The Day, 17 JUNE 2025

9h | TBS News of the day
Rising default loans threaten jobs, growth, trade

Rising default loans threaten jobs, growth, trade

11h | TBS Insight
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net