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Plastic shields around student desks have become a common feature in classrooms across San Diego County, but whether they improve COVID safety is still being debated, some say.
The desk barriers are one safety measure that experts and some school officials have backed away from in recent months, as experts have learned more about the virus and how it is most likely to transmit in schools.
Plexiglass barriers will not prevent the coronavirus from spreading because coronavirus travels mainly on aerosols in the air, which can travel around barriers, some authorities said.
One UC San Diego expert noted in a February advisory report to San Diego Unified that desk barriers are useful when students are less than six feet apart to prevent droplets from coughs or sneezes from traveling to other people. That does not matter much when students wear masks, which would stop droplets.