“It is very important to get the children back to school for the unintended negative consequences that occur when we keep them out of school,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said at a Senate hearing Tuesday.
But how K-12 schools actually reopen in the fall will vary from place to place as the country continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic.
As Fauci warned, the U.S. could soon see up to 100,000 new cases a day if the current upswing of cases doesn’t change.
He suggested some schools could choose to embrace split schedules or digital learning — all moves districts nationwide have already been discussing.
“If we adhere to guidelines, of what we've heard in many of these presentations you just heard, about the physical distancing, the use of masks, things like that, that will help to keep the level of infection in the community down, which will then make it easy to get the children back to school," he said.
While officials said they’re still studying how the virus may spread in children, many colleges and universities are moving ahead with their plans for returning to campus.
New guidance from the CDC today stressed the importance of embracing testing as part of that planning process.
Leaders said campuses could utilize pool testing and should work with their states to secure enough materials.
More guidance for K-12 schools is set to be released later this week.
