The recent surge in COVID-19 infections in a number of southern and western states that reopened their economies earlier was the context of the conversation. When asked if schools would open in the fall, Gottlieb replied: “I think the schools in the south are going to get delayed. I don’t think they are going to be able to restart the school year. Now, they could take an interim step right now and just delay it for a week or a month.“ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb He then tied getting children back to school as a critical factor in restarting the U.S. economy cratered by the COVID-19 pandemic. “I would be prioritizing opening the schools,” Gottlieb noted. “I would do what it takes from a policy standpoint to try and get the infection rate down enough to open the schools because that really is a gating factor.” RELATED: For more up-to-date information, sign up for our daily newsletter. In mid-May, Anthony Fauci, MD, head of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, said that a return to school in the fall “would be a bit of a bridge too far,” which earned a response from President Donald Trump, who said, “We have to get the schools open.” By the end of the mouth, Fauci had changed his tune, saying, “There are certain states, cities, regions, counties in which the level of infection is at a rate that the schools can be much more flexible in how they open… [but] in other areas, it may be that it is really quite risky.” And for more on the much-discussed return to school, check out 70 Percent of Doctors Say This Is When They’ll Send Their Kids Back to School.
