Dr. Anthony Fauci said a coronavirus relief bill needs to be passed before schools can reopen.
“I think that the schools really do need more resources, and that’s the reason why the national relief act that we’re talking about getting passed — we need that. The schools need more resources,” the nation’s leading infectious disease doctor said on ABC’s This Week.
“It’s the first time that it’s been put down in a document based on scientific observations and data over the last several months to a year, both in the United States and elsewhere. Part of that is to indicate and to suggest strongly that a preference be given to teachers to get vaccinated,” Fauci added of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines on reopening.
Dr. Fauci tells @gstephanopoulos “schools need more resources” to combat COVID-19 effectively, adding “it can be done.”
“Obviously it’s not a perfect situation, but it’s really important to get the children back to school in the safest way possible.” https://t.co/AsaBejuXu6 pic.twitter.com/INndliCji3
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) February 14, 2021
The comments come after Fauci said late last year that bars should close, but “keep the schools open.”
“The default position should be to try as best as possible within reason to keep the children in school,” Fauci said on Nov. 29.
“If you look at the data, the spread among children and from children is not really very big at all, not like one would have suspected. So let’s try to get the kids back,” Fauci added.
During Fauci’s latest interview, he said that getting children back in the classroom must be done in a way that’s safe for both students and teachers.
“I think it can be done. I mean, obviously, it’s not a perfect situation, but it’s really important to get the children back to school in a safest way as possible. Safe for the children, but also safe for the teachers and the other educators,” Fauci said.
The CDC released its guidelines on reopening last week that said it is “critical for schools to open as safely and as soon as possible.”
Democrats in Congress said that a new relief bill will be signed into law next month.
