Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Department of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Department of Emergency Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Clin Infect Dis. 2021 Nov 16;73(10):1871-1878. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciab230.
National and international guidelines differ about the optimal physical distancing between students for prevention of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission; studies directly comparing the impact of ≥3 versus ≥6 ft of physical distancing policies in school settings are lacking. Thus, our objective was to compare incident cases of SARS-CoV-2 in students and staff in Massachusetts public schools among districts with different physical distancing requirements. State guidance mandates masking for all school staff and for students in grades 2 and higher; the majority of districts required universal masking.
Community incidence rates of SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-2 cases among students in grades K-12 and staff participating in-person learning, and district infection control plans were linked. Incidence rate ratios (IRRs) for students and staff members in traditional public school districts with ≥3 versus ≥6 ft of physical distancing were estimated using log-binomial regression; models adjusted for community incidence are also reported.
Among 251 eligible school districts, 537 336 students and 99 390 staff attended in-person instruction during the 16-week study period, representing 6 400 175 student learning weeks and 1 342 574 staff learning weeks. Student case rates were similar in the 242 districts with ≥3 versus ≥6 ft of physical distancing between students (IRR, 0.891; 95% confidence interval, .594-1.335); results were similar after adjustment for community incidence (adjusted IRR, 0.904; .616-1.325). Cases among school staff in districts with ≥3 versus ≥6 ft of physical distancing were also similar (IRR, 1.015, 95% confidence interval, .754-1.365).
Lower physical distancing requirements can be adopted in school settings with masking mandates without negatively affecting student or staff safety.
国际和国内的指南在预防严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2（SARS-CoV-2）传播方面，对于学生之间最佳的身体距离存在差异；缺乏直接比较学校环境中≥3 英尺与≥6 英尺身体距离政策影响的研究。因此，我们的目标是比较马萨诸塞州公立学校中不同身体距离要求的地区学生和教职员工的 SARS-CoV-2 感染病例。州指导要求所有学校工作人员和 2 年级及以上学生戴口罩；大多数地区要求普遍戴口罩。
将 SARS-CoV-2 的社区发病率、K-12 年级学生和参与面授学习的教职员工的 SARS-CoV-2 病例以及地区感染控制计划进行关联。使用对数二项式回归估计具有≥3 英尺与≥6 英尺身体距离的传统公立学区学生和教职员工的发病率比值（IRR）；还报告了调整社区发病率的模型。
在 251 个符合条件的学区中，有 537336 名学生和 99390 名教职员工在 16 周的研究期间参加了面授教学，代表了 6400175 个学生学习周和 1342574 个教职员工学习周。在学生之间具有≥3 英尺与≥6 英尺身体距离的 242 个学区中，学生病例率相似（IRR，0.891；95%置信区间，0.594-1.335）；在调整社区发病率后结果相似（调整后的 IRR，0.904；0.616-1.325）。在身体距离要求为≥3 英尺与≥6 英尺的学区中，学校工作人员的病例也相似（IRR，1.015；95%置信区间，0.754-1.365）。
在有戴口罩要求的学校环境中，可以采用较低的身体距离要求，而不会对学生或教职员工的安全产生负面影响。
