The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has altered its guidance for COVID-19 prevention in schools by removing a section that discussed when to get rid of precautions such as masks.
While updates to the CDC's 'Guidance for COVID-19 Prevention in K-12 Schools' are usually announced at the top of the site, it failed to mention the recent change that was originally set in place on August 5.
The full sentence that was removed read: 'The guidance is intended to help administrators and local health officials select appropriate, layered prevention strategies and understand how to safely transition learning environments out of COVID-19 pandemic precautions as community transmission of COVID-19 reaches low levels or stops.'
The CDC also removed sections that asked schools to monitor cases closely should the decide to rollback masking and social distancing, as well as making sure that their masking policies do not conflict with any state laws or regulations.
The CDC removed a section of its school COVID prevention policy that referenced how schools can rollback the policies in place once COVID-19 transmission reaches low levels or stops
Schools across the nation have adopted masking policies to prevent the spread of COVID since the pandemic began last year. Pictured, students at the Carl B. Munch Elementary School in Oakland, California, on August 11
Critics of the sentence's removal claim that the CDC had quietly removed hopes of a return to normalcy.
'It's basically mask indefinitely in schools forever, and there is no off-ramps. So it's really disappointing to see that,' Jonathan Zachreson, an advocate for fully reopening California schools, told Fox News.
CDC spokeswoman Jade Fulce said guidance is 'always being revised based on the current epidemiology' and that increases in the Delta variant and low vaccination coverage in some communities led to the changes.
