Of all the mind-blowing coronavirus decisions Trump has made, the political risks of his bid for back to school are perhaps the greatest. At a time when she is struggling to reduce support among women, moderates, and older adults, she is urging parents to send their children back to the classroom even though the long-term risks are still largely unknown. deadline for their health and how quickly they could spread. vulnerable adults, including grandparents and teachers.
Trump’s belief that schools should reopen is clearly based on his desire to get the economy moving again, which he believes is the lynchpin of his chances for reelection, but once again he has rethought a position at odds with Most Americans are uncertain at this time.
The push to reopen
“We would like to see schools open. We want to see the economy open,” Trump said Wednesday. “I would like to see the schools open, 100% open. And we will do it safely; we will do it carefully.”
But the president does He does not appear to be heeding the warnings raised by his top public health advisers about the unknown. Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, has repeatedly warned that scientists and doctors are still studying how quickly children under the age of 10 can transmit the virus, in part because many of them have been at home, away from their peers, during the peak months of the outbreak.
Beyond that, More evidence is emerging that some Americans who get Covid-19 may have long-term health consequences after they have recovered, and the long-term impact of the virus on children is still unknown.
Despite those uncertainties, White House officials without medical or public health credentials have largely echoed the president’s line, stressing the importance of children returning to the classroom, due to the negative consequences. of missing studies in person.
During a workforce briefing in early July, when Trump began to increase pressure for schools to reopen, CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield emphasized that “the ability of this virus to cause significant illness in children it is very, very, very limited “and added that unlike the flu, where children are often the transmission tool,” we really have no evidence that children are driving the transmission cycle of this. ”
She referenced the recent study from South Korea that found that children in that country who were nine years old and transmitted the virus at lower rates than older children: “I think that is an open question that should be studied in the United States. We certainly know from other studies that children under the age of 10 become infected, it just isn’t clear how fast they transmit the virus. ”
But White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany emphasized on Friday that CDC officials have said the overall infection rate has been low among children and argued that schools “are essential places of business” and that “teachers are essential personnel”.
“The best available evidence indicates that if children do become infected, they are much less likely to experience severe symptoms,” McEnany said, noting the CDC’s guidance. “Mortality rates among school-age children are much lower than among adults, and much lower than during the H1N1 pandemic, for example, when schools remained open.”
Like Birx, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease specialist, walked a careful line in several appearances on Friday as the administration continued its campaign to reopen schools this fall to help fuel an economic recovery.
“As a broad and predetermined position, we should do everything possible to keep children in school and bring them back to school when the school season begins,” Fauci said during a live interview with The Washington Post, “because of the unintended consequences of the downstream ripple effect of keeping children out of school, and the impact on parents who need to care for them. “
But as a caveat, Fauci said parents should seek guidance from their local school district and make the decision on whether to return children to school based on the prevalence of the virus where the family lives and how much the school district is doing to protect children returning to classes in person.
Confusion and fear among American parents.
The coming and going has understandably left parents adrift, struggling to figure out how to balance their safety concerns with their eagerness to return to a productive life, which, for many, depends on their children being in school during the day. .
Many media parents are hiring teachers and tutors to supplement online instruction this fall, a luxury that seems to widen the gap between financially disadvantaged and disadvantaged children as the entire education system tries to transition to distance learning.
While most parents were in favor of delaying school openings, only 34% of parents said they preferred that schools open earlier so that parents could work and children could access services. Parents of color were more likely to say that their own children’s school lacked the resources to open safely.
However, illustrating the Gordian knot of the pandemic, about two-thirds of parents also said they were concerned that their children would be socially, emotionally and academically behind while they were out of school, and 51% said they were concerned about losing income if they cannot go to work because their children are at home.
Clearly, the president’s effort to correct the course this week He realized that he was likely to lose in November, as a large majority disapproved of his handling of the pandemic. But there is still no evidence that his epiphany spreads to schools and how parents will see his willingness to put their children at risk.
When asked about the president’s change in tone this week, and the more cautious approach he is taking after months of insisting the virus would magically disappear, McEnany insisted that there has been no change in Trump’s mindset: ” There have been no changes, “he said. said. “The president has been consistent in this.”
.
