The White House leaves the decision to reopen schools in the US to the CDC

Faced with criticism that President Joe Biden has not taken aggressive enough action to reopen schools, the White House said on Thursday that it is aiming for a full return to the classroom.But the decision on how to achieve that goal during the pandemic is left to expert scientists.

The White House was heavily criticized this week for claiming that schools would be considered open if they offer face-to-face classes at least once a week.When asked on Thursday, press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden expects students to return to class five days a week as soon as it is safe.

However, Psaki has not set specific dates in this regard, noting that the government will act in accordance with the new school guidelines that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) intend to present Friday.

I can assure all parents who are listening that their goal, their commitment, is to keep schools open five days a week.Psaki said during a report to the press. “That’s what they want to achieve, and we’ll be guided by the science and the recommendations they give us.”

The job of assisting in the reopening of schools belongs to the CDC, Psaki said, and not Biden-nominated for the head of the Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, whose designation was approved by the Commission of Health, Education on Thursday. . , Employment and Senate Pensions.

The panel voted 17-5 in Cardona’s favor, and the full Senate is expected to ratify his nominationHe got the approval of the commission’s top Republican, Richard Burr, who said Cardona has the “background, credentials and character” to be secretary.

“He has stressed that students should go back to school, and that is now a two-pronged mission,” said Burr.

One of Joe Biden’s top priorities during his first 100 days in office is reopening schools amid the coronavirus pandemic.

There is growing evidence that schools can reopen safely and that safe reopening does not suggest that teachers should be vaccinatedRochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, said at a press conference at the White House on Feb. 3.

“Vaccination of teachers is not a prerequisite for the safe reopening of schools,” he added.

The Chief Epidemiologist of the United States Government, Anthony Fauci, agreed to the school reopening program presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As he pointed out, the CDC’s claim is “data based.”

“I would support the CDC’s recommendations because they are truly data-based. We have to try to get kids back to school and that’s the goal of the President, Joe Biden “Fauci said, in dialogue with the chain MSNBC

The director of the United States National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases explained that further “A child is less likely to be infected in the school environment than in the community.”

In early February, the CDC released a report agreeing to reopen schools as soon as possible if social distance measures and mandatory use of the mask were properly applied. However, the researchers made it clear that some indoor sports did indeed lead to infections and recommended reducing them as much as possible so that schools can operate safely.

The preponderance of the available evidence from the fall school semester was reassuring … There was little evidence that schools made a significant contribution to the increase inThree CDC researchers wrote in an opinion piece published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

With AP information

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