Dr. Rochelle Walensky: CDC director says ‘we have work to do’ when it comes to reopening schools safely

CNN — The director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Sunday emphasized the need for masking and other mitigation measures in order to reopen schools safely, saying “we have work to do” as teachers, students and parents continue to struggle with Covid-19’s impact on education. As that transmission comes down we’ll be able to relax some of these measures, but the real point is to make sure that the science is consistent with our guidance, which is consistent to say until we can ensure that we have all those measures happening that there would – schools wouldn’t be safe,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” when pressed about why schools across the country haven’t reopened. We need to make sure as we come out of the red zones and do our part as a society to get down from red to lower rates of transmission, and we need to do the work to get all of those mitigation strategies up and running in all of these schools.” Nearly all US kids live in red zones under new CDC school guidance Walensky’s comments come as schools across the US debate how to reopen safely, with some combining a mixture of virtual and in-person learning, and as the push to prioritize teachers for vaccinations increases. About 99% of children in the US live in a county considered a “red” zone with high levels of Covid-19 transmission under the CDC new opening guidance, according to a CNN analysis of federal data. Of course teacher vaccinations are essential,” Wen, a CNN medical analyst, told Abby Phillip on “Inside Politics.” “If we want students to be in school for in-person learning, the least that we can do is to protect the health and well-being of our teachers – especially as in so many parts of the country, teachers are already being made to go back to school in poorly-ventilated, cramped areas, with many students who may not always be masking and practicing physical distancing.” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, noted on ABC’s “This Week” Sunday that teachers’ concerns about going back to school without being vaccinated are understandable, but he hopes that the new guidance from the CDC will help alleviate them.