Urgency of Normal responds to recently released CDC recommendations for COVID19 mitigation in schools

On June 15th, 2022 Urgency of Normal sent an open letter to the CDC urging updated guidance for schools to minimize disruptions to in-person learning and reduce harms linked to past restrictions. Newly released Operational Guidance for K-12 Schools and Early Care and Education Programs to Support Safe In-Person Learning shows the agency is acknowledging the importance of in-person learning. There are some excellent changes, most notably that: children should not be treated differently based on vaccination status, students and staff exposed to COVID19 can remain in the building as long as they are symptom-free, and routine screening testing is no longer recommended. These changes should help decrease some of the disruptions of the past few years. 

However, the updated CDC guidance continues to make recommendations that are contrary to the scientific evidence.  The local guidance is based on community COVID19 metrics that are known to be misleading. Masking recommendations are contrary to the growing evidence that community masking is ineffective against COVID transmission.  COVID testing in children who are not in need of treatment only leads to more days of missed schooling.  Finally, vaccine recommendations continue to be made for populations in which there is no evidence of benefit. Each of these recommendations defies the Precautionary Principle, a core tenet of Public Health which requires that continued interventions in children’s lives be proven to do more good than harm.

The Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania (CHOP) and PolicyLab of CHOP also recently released their Guidance for Updated COVID-19 School Mitigation Plans for Academic Year 2022-23. Their recommendations for testing, isolation of sick individuals, masking, and quarantine for exposure are more closely aligned with current evidence. Unfortunately, the recommendation to defer to  local public health departments — who follow CDC guidance — allows too much room for re-instituting unnecessary restrictions on children.

Comparison of Recommendations by Organization

Comparison of Recommendations by Organization

Comparison of Recommendations by Organization

Both CDC and CHOP are making steps in the right direction and it is encouraging that US children have fewer disruptions to their school year. However, the remaining recommended restrictions and use of COVID19 Community Levels metrics to guide school policies are neither necessary nor beneficial. For millions of US children, this will mean a fourth year of inconsistent and ineffective learning.

Urgency of Normal’s recommendations are closely aligned with policies in Denmark, which recognize that Omicron variants rarely cause serious illness in children and adolescents. We have reached the endemic phase of COVID19, where infections closely resemble other respiratory viral illnesses and should be treated similarly . Therefore, we continue to urge the following recommendations for early childhood, K-12, and college/university students:

  1. Isolate at home for fever, vomiting, or diarrhea

  2. Healthy children do not need to be tested for COVID19, because it will not impact treatment. Test only high-risk individuals whose treatment will be affected by the test result.

  3. Mask mandates are not appropriate

  4. COVID vaccination requirements should not be used to exclude people from full participation in school or societal activities. 

  5. Decisions about vaccines and boosters should be made between children, their parents/guardians and their physicians