Fauci recommends opening schools instead of bars

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• During an interview with Yahoo News, Dr. Fauci said that cities and states should open schools over bars and restaurants where the infection rate is high.
• He explained that the chance of getting coronavirus in schools is immaterial, and the significant risks are places flocked by adults.
• Since July, President Trump has called for school reopening but did not offer to fund its safe implementation. 

The country’s most known public health expert suggested a glaring option to the public about how to go on safely amidst the most challenging period of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Head of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases  Dr. Anthony Fauci told Yahoo News early Monday that the government should choose to shut down bars instead of schools. His recommendation was following New York City’s announcement that it would close classrooms and revert to 100% virtual schooling. Earlier this fall, the city has resumed partial in-person classes, and it was considered successful in general.

The education facilities in New York were suspended even with a low infection rate of 0.19 percent within the school. The decision can be attributed to the fact that the whole city reached a 3 percent coronavirus infection rate that Mayor Bill de Blasio announced would force shutting down.

Reports suggest New York’s positivity rate is caused by customers gathering in social places such as restaurants and bars. One example is the raiding by officers of a sex event at Queens over the weekend.

Several other districts also have a similar course, with children potentially spending more time in virtual classes through Zoom. Some sectors questioned the move, asking why schools should suffer the epidemic’s burden when the major contributor in spreading the virus are spaces utilized by adults.

Studies clearly indicate that schools are not high-risk transmission zones of the virus, either amongst adults and children. The case is precisely accurate for children of younger age, who, in general, find it hard to cope up with online classes.

Fauci clarified with Yahoo News that educators are reasonably worried about physically going to classes, especially in areas considered as virus hot zones, even if the school itself is free of the COVID-19.

Around 20 percent of teachers told Education Week in July that they won’t render work despite school building reopening by their district. And the unwillingness of teachers to revert to in-person education has derailed campaigns for Washington, D.C., to urge some students to return to physical classrooms.

Teachers’ unions have asserted they wish to go back to in-person teaching, but many leaders maintained it was not yet safe. Fauci said this thinking where the teachers are at risk instead of science-based facts if children would be susceptible would lead to schools remaining closed for a long time.

While President Trump and the renowned immunology expert may have clashed over many issues concerning the virus, they both appear to agree on school reopening. The president urged schools to resume in July but provided no funding for safe reopening. Fauci told Yahoo News that he encourages schools to reopen with their best capability.

Source:  AOL