There is a major weak spot in school COVID-19 protocols: mealtimes | Opinion

The situation of COVID-19 and schools is a mess.

The policymaker mantra is that schools are safe. However, schools are only safe if they follow safety protocols. They are only safe if people who may have the virus do not expose others.

Recently, the CDC changed its guidance, saying that anyone with COVID-19 can shorten their isolation period from 10 to five days, and many schools quickly adopted these new rules. This month, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) released guidance for the return to school, suggesting that all children or adults who have been exposed, and even those who have tested positive (after five days), can attend school as long as they “wear a mask at all times.”

In theory, this might work. If kids or adults with the virus were able to keep their masks on “at all times,” perhaps they wouldn’t transmit the virus.

However, there is a key omission in the CHOP guidance: mealtimes. There is simply not enough awareness and attention paid to the dangers eating and drinking can pose for children during the pandemic.

“There is simply not enough awareness and attention paid to the dangers eating and drinking can pose for children during the pandemic.”

At mealtimes, large groups of children, many of whom have carefully worn their masks all day, collectively remove their masks to eat lunch. Or to have snacks in the classroom. Sometimes they may be six feet apart. Often they aren’t, as most schools don’t have the physical space to keep students adequately separated. And in the winter months, eating outdoors is near impossible.

What is the point of carefully enforcing mask use all day to then have all of them simultaneously remove them? It’s like wearing a seatbelt all day and then taking it off to engage in a game of bumper cars with your 50-100 closest friends.

The failure to address safety in this crucial moment of the school day leaves districts in the lurch.

Recently, Philadelphia’s Department of Public Health released guidance for schools, which thankfully did address mealtimes: Specifically, it recommends that schools provide an area where students who have tested positive can eat separated from others for the six to 10 day period after infection.

This is a good step and one that I believe schools in neighboring counties should adopt as well. But it doesn’t address the ongoing weak spot that mealtimes pose to our attempts to prevent transmission at schools. Yes, we should isolate kids who have tested positive for a few extra days, but what about the kids who don’t know they are sick and contagious? (A spokesperson for Philadelphia public schools said that school leaders maintain seating charts in lunchrooms to keep kids in cohorts — which eases contact tracing — and utilize large rooms or outdoor areas whenever possible.)

This lack of awareness of the risks of mealtimes at schools has spread to the community at large. I hear of too many instances, such as kids’ birthday parties, where parents are vigilant about keeping kids masked up until they gather all the children to sit shoulder to shoulder for pizza and cake, mask-free.

Schools — and parents — need guidance.

» READ MORE: Many Philadelphia schools likely unable to adopt new CDC guidelines, district and health department say

When distancing isn’t possible, here are some additional ways to minimize COVID-19 transmission during meals:

To truly keep schools safe, there needs to be much more awareness and attention paid to the risks that mealtimes pose at schools and other indoor gatherings.

Whitney Schott is a research scientist at Drexel University who focuses on child health and development and access to health services among vulnerable populations.