I received a call this morning from a school asking for a quote on custom sneeze guards. They are restarting classes in two weeks which hit home, that kids are going back to attending class in schools this year (significantly less virtual learning than last year). This means that schools must put the necessary safeguards in place to protect all students from the Covid-19 and its’ variants. Whether its at the front offices, in the cafeteria, nurse’s office or any other locations where sneeze guards should be placed, they need to be ordered now because it takes time to make and ship them to the various schools.

There are two types of sneeze guards, hanging sneeze guards that usually hang from an acoustic tile ceiling structure, and sneeze guards that sit on flat surfaces such as desks or tables. The hanging sneeze guards are made of a thinner material due to their weight. Suspended ceiling structures are not designed to support large weights and we do not want the ceiling to fall from the weight of the sneeze guards. The ceiling sneeze guards are hung using chains. The height of the ceiling determines the lengths of chains that support the sneeze guards. Tabletop sneeze guards have feet to support them. The size and quantity of the feet are determined by the size of the sneeze guards. The wider the sneeze guards, the more feet are required to support them. Custom sneeze guards are also available such as sneeze guards that form an X and are placed on a round table. This allows four people to sit at a round table and still be protected. Surprisingly, there are also rolling sneeze guards for teachers who may want that versatile protection in their classroom. Holes can be cut in the sneeze guards for the passing of papers as seen in the picture below.

Small quantities of sneeze guards can be shipped in a thin box by regular means. Larger quantities of sneeze guards must be shipped on a skid. Sneeze guards that are larger than 46” x 40” cannot be stacked on a skid. Instead, special supports must be built on the skid so that the sneeze guards can be shipped vertically instead of horizontally making this a more costly shipping option. Sneeze guards can be as wide as 92 inches and as high as 48” (excluding the chains). Sneeze guards that large are more prone to damage during shipping than smaller sizes because they are difficult to load and unload from trucks.

If you aren’t sure of what sneeze guards you need to purchase, simply do a sketch of the area that needs sneeze guards with the dimensions and experts can determine the best solution for you.

Don’t wait until the students are in school to buy the sneeze guards. At that time manufacturers may be very busy doing other orders. Do it now so that all the protections on in place for when students return to class.