CDC cites low risks, calls for schools to reopen
WASHINGTON — The nation’s top public health agency issued a full-throated call to reopen schools in a statement that aligned with President Donald Trump’s pressure on communities, listing numerous benefits for children of being in school and downplaying the potential health risks.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published the statement, along with new “resources and tools,” Thursday evening, two weeks after Trump criticized its earlier recommendations on school reopenings as “very tough and expensive.”
“Reopening schools creates opportunity to invest in the education, well-being and future of one of America’s greatest assets — our children — while taking every precaution to protect students, teachers, staff and all their families,” the agency’s new statement said.
While many public health experts and pediatricians agree that returning children to classrooms is critically important, they warn that it has to be done cautiously, with a plan based on scientific evidence.
The new package of CDC materials began with a statement titled “The Importance of Reopening America’s Schools This Fall” that repeatedly described children as being at low risk for being infected by or transmitting the virus, though the science on both aspects is far from settled.
Beyond the opening statement, it included checklists for parents, guidance on wearing face coverings, mitigation measures for schools to take and other information that some epidemiologists described as useful. This more technical guidance generally did not counter the agency’s earlier recommendations on school reopenings, such as keeping desks 6 feet apart and keeping smaller-than-usual groups of children in one classroom all day instead of allowing them to move around.
While most research suggests that children infected by the coronavirus are at low risk of becoming severely ill or dying, how often they become infected and how efficiently they spread the virus to others is not definitively known. Children in middle and high schools may also be at much higher risk of both than those under 10, according to some recent studies, a distinction the opening statement did not make.
The new statement came from a working group convened by officials at the Health and Human Services Department after Trump made his critical comments. A federal official familiar with the group said it included minimal representation from the CDC, which had already written most of the other material released Thursday.
Experts on the subject at the CDC were cut off from direct communication with the working group after their input on the statement was interpreted as too cautious, the official said. Instead, the group communicated directly with the office of CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield, which did seek input from experts at the agency.
Redfield said Friday that he understood the “trepidation” many parents and teachers were feeling about reopening schools and that decisions should be made based on levels of infection in each community. Still, he said, “the goal line is to get the majority of these students back to face-to-face learning.”