The American Academy of Pediatrics is calling for in-person learning for the upcoming school year, but it also says at least one other COVID-19 mitigation policy should return.
The AAP is recommending that all students, teachers and staff wear masks while indoors in schools, regardless of whether they are fully vaccinated. The AAP says a large portion of students are not eligible for COVID-19 shots and there is an increased presence of variant strains like the highly transmissible delta variant.
Monday’s list of recommendations from the AAP does not address social distancing, which saw a standard of six feet for most of the pandemic before occasionally shrinking to three feet as vaccinations for students became more available near the end of last school year.
On the balance of in-person versus remote education, the AAP says remote learning “highlighted inequities in education.” It also says it was “detrimental” to education for students in all age ranges and “exacerbated the mental health crisis” in students.
Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says vaccinated Americans can go without masks, regardless of the setting. That recommendation was issued before the delta variant became the dominant strain, pushing COVID-19 infection rates back up across almost all 50 states including Kansas.
