TRENTON, NJ – In New Jersey schools, three feet of separation is enough to defend against the spread of COVID-19, but in all other indoor places, six feet distance is still required.
That is the latest science coming out of the CDC and Trenton as Governor Phil Murphy announced today that students in New Jersey classrooms may move a little bit closer to each other.
Three feet of social distancing in school
“If masking and frequent hand-washing can be maintained by students and educators and support staff in a classroom, then full-time in-person instruction can begin with the distance between students within that classroom reduced to three feet,” Murphy declared today. “This updated social distancing guidance applies to all elementary grade levels across all levels of community transmission risk. It also applies to middle and high school grades at low and moderate risk levels.”
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If your community has a higher rate of transmission, then six feet distancing is required.
“In communities where the rate of transmission is listed by the department as high, six feet to the maximum extent practicable will remain the recommended standard social distance for middle and high schools,” Murphy said. “The guidance reiterates that for all schools regardless of grade or risk factor, six feet of distance is critical in indoor common areas when masking is not an option such as when students are eating and drinking in the school cafeteria.”
Murphy is now urging all schools in the state to return to in-person classrooms after the protocols currently in place have been successful in keeping the rate of transmission low in schools.
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