{"id":202023,"date":"2021-03-14T21:10:05","date_gmt":"2021-03-14T18:10:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/us-weighs-3-foot-distancing-rule-a-major-change\/"},"modified":"2021-03-14T21:10:05","modified_gmt":"2021-03-14T18:10:05","slug":"us-weighs-3-foot-distancing-rule-a-major-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/us-weighs-3-foot-distancing-rule-a-major-change\/","title":{"rendered":"#US weighs 3-foot distancing rule, a major change"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#US weighs 3-foot distancing rule, a major change<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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\"COVID-19\"
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The United States’ top pandemic advisor said Sunday that authorities were considering cutting social<\/a> distancing rules to three feet (one meter), a move that would change a key tenet of the global fight against COVID-19.\n <\/p>\n

Anthony Fauci, a world-respected figure during the coronavirus crisis, said experts at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) were examining a Massachusetts study that found “no substantial difference” in COVID cases in schools observing six-foot and three-foot rules.<\/p>\n

Asked on CNN’s “State of the Union” show whether that meant that a three-foot separation was sufficient, Fauci replied, “It does, indeed.”<\/p>\n

“The CDC is very well aware that data are accumulating making it look more like three feet are OK under certain circumstances,” Fauci added.<\/p>\n

While cautioning that the CDC was still weighing the data and conducting its own tests, he said its findings would come “soon.”<\/p>\n

The six-foot social distancing rule has been a widely-adopted global measure to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, along with mask-wearing and hand-washing.<\/p>\n

School officials across the world are under pressure to fully reopen as soon as safely possible, but many say the six-foot requirement makes it difficult without adding portable classrooms or shortening the school day.<\/p>\n

Many teachers unions have also insisted on six-foot distancing.<\/p>\n

School transmission rates<\/b><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The study led by the Beth Deaconess Medical Center 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 three- and six-foot rules when all wore masks.<\/p>\n

The findings, published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases<\/i>, add to a growing body of evidence that COVID-19 transmission rates are low in schools.<\/p>\n

A three-foot rule would have an enormous impact on prospects not only for fully reopening schools, but also for offices and even public areas such as sports venues.<\/p>\n

The United States has the highest COVID fatality toll in the world, now app<\/a>roaching 535,000, but it has seen case numbers and death rates fall this year.<\/p>\n

That trend, along with a vaccination program that has reached millions of arms\u2014including three million doses on just Saturday, Fauci said\u2014has spawned growing optimism.<\/p>\n

But with states like Texas and Maryland already easing their COVID rules, Fauci warned again against Americans letting down their guard too soon.<\/p>\n

Some European countries had done exactly that, he said, pointing to Italy’s recent reimposition of health measures after its latest virus surge.<\/p>\n

“It definitely is of concern,” he told CNN.<\/p>\n

“When you see a plateau at a level as high as 60,000 cases a day,” he said, “that is a very vulnerable time to have a surge to go back up.<\/p>\n

“That’s exactly what happened in Europe.”\n <\/p>\n\n

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Follow the latest news<\/a> on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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\n \u00a9 2021 AFP<\/p>\n

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Citation<\/strong>:
\n Fauci: US weighs 3-foot distancing rule, a major change (2021, March 14)
\n retrieved 14 March 2021
\n from https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2021-03-fauci-foot-distancing-major.html<\/p>\n

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