Fauci says Biden’s push to reopen schools in 100 days ‘may not happen’

Dr. Anthony Fauci warned in a new interview that President Joe Biden’s push to reopen most schools within 100 days “may not happen” amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Among a flurry of executive orders, Biden has issued an order requiring the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services to provide federal guidance on reopening, “with the goal of getting a majority of K-8 schools safely open in 100 days.”

“The president is taking very seriously the issue … both from the student standpoint and from the teacher standpoint,” Fauci said during a virtual event sponsored by the American Federation of Teachers and National Education Association, according to Education Week.

“He really wants to and believes that the schools need to reopen in the next 100 days, essentially all the K to 8 schools, within 100 days. That’s the goal,” continued Fauci, 80, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the president’s chief medical adviser.

“That may not happen because there may be mitigating circumstances, but what he really wants to do is everything within his power to help get to that,” he added.

The top doc noted that there is “some light at the end of the tunnel” regarding the availability of effective COVID-19 vaccines and that reopening schools is a critical part of the White Houses’ response to controlling the pandemic.

President Joe Biden signs executive orders as part of the COVID-19 response.
President Joe Biden signs executive orders as part of the COVID-19 response.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

“We’re not going to get back to normal until we get children back into school, both for the good of the children, for the good of the parents, and for the good of the community,” he said.

 “We want to make sure we do that by giving the teachers and the teams associated with teachers the resources that they need to do that. The idea of, ‘Go do it on your own’ — that doesn’t work,” Fauci added.

source: nypost.com