CDC: Schools near uncontrolled virus spread may want to do distance learning for now

WASHINGTON — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield says communities need to take steps to minimize the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19 so that schools can reopen this fall.

“We need communities to adopt the actions to slow the spread of COVID now,” Redfield said Friday on a call with reporters. “We owe it to our nation’s children to take personal responsibility, do everything we can to lower the levels of COVID-19 so they can go back to school safely.”

Redfield’s comments come after the CDC late Thursday released its updated guidance for schools considering how to reopen. The guidance was compiled by several agencies, including the CDC, Department of Education and Department of Labor, and was reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget, as interagency guidelines typically are, Redfield said.

A CDC statement discusses the “importance” of reopening schools, noting that school-age children are less likely to get sick from the virus and death rates in that age group are far lower than among adults. It says students could be set back in many areas of life if schools remain closed.

The writing of that memo was led by the Department of Health and Human Services, with input from the CDC and agencies, including the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Redfield said.

Mitchell Zais, deputy secretary of education, said on the call that the “default” should be schools fully open this fall.

“In areas where there are hot spots, remote distancing learning might need to be adopted for a certain amount of time, but the research and science continue to suggest

that it is safer, healthier and better for students to be in school full time,” said Zais.

Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, called the memo “a sound set of guidelines” during a live interview Friday with The Washington Post.

This week’s guidelines come after President Donald Trump criticized earlier guidance from the agency as too restrictive. Trump has threatened to cut off federal funding for schools that don’t reopen this fall.