White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany reiterated on Thursday that US President Donald Trump advocates the complete reopening of schools in the context of the coronavirus pandemic and stated that “science should not stand in the way of the decision.
“When he (Trump) says open, he means to open completely, so that children can go to their school every day,” McEnany said during a press conference at the White House, rejecting distance or hybrid teaching plans, between face-to-face and ‘online’. “Science should not get in the way of this. Science is on our side,” he continued.
The Trump Administration and the president himself have been insisting for days that US schools should reopen in the fall, an issue that has become one of the most sensitive in the country as it seeks to resume normalcy during the coronavirus pandemic.
However, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended reopening guidelines that include, but are not limited to, children being able to stay home when appropriate.
They also suggest promoting hygiene, the use of cloth covers, a staggered schedule or a distribution of desks that allows physical distance. Trump publicly rejected these recommendations, arguing that they are “difficult and expensive.”
For his part, the chief scientific officer in the fight against the coronavirus in the United States, Anthony Fauci, has warned that the country must control the pandemic before allowing children to return to schools safely in the fall.
The United States is the country most affected by the coronavirus pandemic, with more than 3.5 million confirmed cases and more than 138,000 deaths.
