There are mixed views on whether people should be heading back to school in the fall, and how to safely do that, amid the coronavirus pandemic, and President Donald Trumpâs administration is pushing for it.
After Trump pushed for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to revise its guidance on reopening schools, calling them âvery toughâ and âexpensive,â the CDC said it would be issuing new guidelines, as IJR reported.
However, now, CDC Director Robert Redfield is making it clear that the CDC does not plan to revise their guidelines. But, there will be more information provided.
âOur guidelines are our guidelines, but we are going to provide additional reference documents to aid basically communities that are trying to open K-through-12s,â Redfield said on ABCâs âGood Morning Americaâ Thursday.
He continued, âItâs not a revision of the guidelines. Itâs just to provide additional information to help schools be able to use the guidance that we put forward.â
Asked which guidelines are âtoo toughâ or âimpractical,â Redfield responded by reiterating that the CDC guidelines are just that, âguidances, theyâre not requirements.â
âItâs not a question of opening schools versus public health. My position is that the public health of the students of this nation is best served by getting these schools reopened,â Redfield added. âReopen safely.â
Watch Redfieldâs interview below:
As the White House expressed interest in the CDC issuing new guidelines, Redfield previously indicated this week, âIt would be personally very disappointing to me, and I know my agency, if we saw that individuals were using these guidelines as a rationale for not reopening our schools.â
The CDC guidelines for reopening schools include dividing students into small groups, staggering schedules, and limiting sharing objects.
Trump said at a White House event on Tuesday, âWeâre very much going to put pressure on governors and everybody else to open the schools.â
On infections, the president said, âItâs time to be open, itâs time to stay open and we will put out the fires as they come.â
Trump received push back from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), who said it is up to the states to decide when schools will reopen, not the federal government.
âItâs not up the president of the United States. There is something called the Constitution that guides government power and then there are a series of laws based on that Constitution and the president does not have the authority to open schools,â Cuomo said during Wednesdayâs press briefing.
