President Donald Trump said that he wants to see some schools reopen this year and said he disagrees with one of his top pandemic advisors.
Trump, in an interview on Thursday, responded to a statement made by top White House infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci about a spike in CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus cases spiking during the reopening process.
“So [Dr.] Anthony [Fauci] is a good person, a very good person—I’ve disagreed with him,” Trump told Fox Business. “We have to get the schools open, we have to get our country open, we have to open our country. Now we want to do it safely, but we also want to do it as quickly as possible, we can’t keep going on like this … You’re having bedlam already in the streets, you can’t do this. We have to get it open. I totally disagree with him on schools.”
Across the United States, governors ordered the closure of schools until the end of the academic year, and some even suggested that the next school term wouldn’t start in the fall.
The president noted that younger people are far less affected by the virus than older people or those with underlying health problems.
“I think that we have to open our schools, young people are very little affected by this. We have to get the schools open, we have to get our country open, we have to open our country. Now we want to do it safely, but we also want to do it as quickly as possible. We can’t keep going on like this, you’re having bedlam already in the streets, we can’t do this, we have to get it open,” he said.
On Wednesday, Trump told reporters in a briefing that state governors will ultimately have to make a decision on the matter but said that the country won’t be coming back from the pandemic if schools stay closed down.
“I was surprised by his answer actually because it’s just to me it’s not an acceptable answer, especially when it comes to schools,” the president said.
Fauci on Tuesday told lawmakers about the possibility of an outbreak in the fall, when college students are slated to start their terms. This is exacerbated by there being no form of treatment or vaccine for the disease, he said.
“If this were a situation where you had a vaccine, that would really be the end of the issue in a positive way. But as I mentioned in my opening remarks, even at the top speed we’re going, we don’t see a vaccine playing in the ability of individuals to get back to school this term,” Fauci remarked.
Fauci added: “The idea of having treatments available, or a vaccine, to facilitate the reentry of students into the fall term would be something of a bit of a bridge too far.”
Due to the uncertainty, the California State University system said it would move fall 2020 classes online, while New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he’s not sure when state schools will reopen.
