CDC: Strong evidence in-person schooling can be done safely

The nation’s top public health agency said Friday that in-person schooling can resume safely with masks, social distancing and other strategies, and vaccination of teachers, while important, is not a prerequisite for reopening. “We know that most clusters in the school setting have occurred when there are breaches in mask wearing,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC’s director, said in a call with reporters. He acknowledged that the goal was ambitious, but added, “It is also a goal we can meet if we follow the science.” Biden said schools will need more money to meet the CDC’s standards and called on Congress to pass his COVID-19 package quickly to get $130 billion in aid to schools. “We can and must provide students the opportunity to return to in-person learning, but we also must ensure that every school has the safety measures in place to keep students and educators safe.” In Florida, which ordered schools to reopen in August, Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran called the new guidance “informative” but warned schools not to veer from their current plans. “I can assure you that the White House is not directing the CDC.” Biden’s national strategy says the administration “will also work with states and local school districts to support screening testing in schools, including working with states to ensure an adequate supply of test kits.” But the CDC guidance stops short of recommending testing, saying “Some schools may also elect to use screening testing as a strategy to identify cases and prevent secondary transmission.” In the early days of the U.S. epidemic, some health experts worried that schools might become cauldrons of coronavirus infection, with kids infecting each other and then spreading it to family members — as seems to be the case during cold and flu season.