The White House has released eight new recommendations for U.S. schools as they prepare to reopen – but those recommendations are little more than basic hygiene tips and do not outline what to do if they have coronavirus cases. -cases in their halls.
The broad recommendations are similar to efforts for coronavirus mitigation across the country, and not specifically for schools.
The ‘general recommendations for all schools’, released at President Donald Trump’s daily news conference, focus on what students and teachers need to do to try to keep people safe when they return to class.
The recommendations include ensuring that students and staff “understand the symptoms of COVID-19” and require “all students, teachers and staff to assess their health each morning before coming to school.”
The recommendations also encourage the use of masks, but do not require students, faculty or staff to wear them. They also “require students, teachers and staff to socially distance themselves from high-risk individuals”, but it is unclear how schools will do so.
Trump said, “We also give high-risk teachers and students options to engage in distance learning and learning.”
The president said one of the reasons he wants students back to school is because there are far fewer deaths in younger Americans.
“College-age students also remain one of the lowest-risk demographics,” Trump argued. He also claimed that most deaths from Covid-19 “occur in people older than 24 years.”
This new list, released by the White House, undermines much of what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention included in its school reopening guidelines, which include additional details.
Trump also said CDC teams can be deployed at schools that need help with their rescheduling plans.
Earlier on Wednesday, adviser to President Kellyanne Conway said that despite the funds the federal government will provide, the decision to reopen schools will still have to be made at the local level.
‘We are the federal government. We do not tell school districts what to do. We provide guidance and resources, ”said Conway.
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