Abstract

Azocar-Gallardo, J., Ojeda-Aravena, A., & Baez-San Martin, E. (2021). Physical distancing and use of face masks during school physical activity in the covid-19 pandemic: A brief communication. PENSAR EN MOVIMIENTO: Revista de Ciencias del Ejercicio y la Salud, 19(2), 1-9. Governments have adopted multiple health policies in order to reduce the transmission of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that causes the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) at a global level. The major potential measures for diminishing the risk of infection include physical or social distancing, set at 1.5 m, and the use of face masks. This physical distancing, however, is not the recommended one for physical activity. On the other hand, the World Health Organization does not recommend wearing face masks during physical activity in adults and children. In addition, the return to in-person classes and, especially, carrying out school physical activity may involve a greater risk of contagion, when considering improvised displacements and whether this is carried out in small spaces. The present communique, therefore, is aimed at examining the evidence related to physical or social distancing and the use of face masks by schoolchildren when carrying out various school physical activities.