But there were arguments between public health officials, state politicians and the White House over the conditions for reopening.The decision to reopen was taken by the governors of individual states, with some Republicans choosing to ignore strict guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease and Control Prevention (CDC) and bring children back earlier.In July 2020, after the CDC issued guidance setting out criteria for schools to reopen, then-president Donald Trump said the conditions were “very tough and expensive” and that teachers had been asked to do “impractical things”.He ordered new guidance to be produced, arguing repeatedly that schools should reopen in the autumn – one year before the first vaccine was approved in the US.A second tranche of guidance in Feb 2021 set out new conditions that outlawed the full reopening of schools in almost all areas.Swayed by teaching unions?The measures were challenged by some Republicans, who accused the CDC of being influenced more by teaching unions than considering the educational outcomes for students.Mr Fauci has previously refused to describe the CDC’s schools guidance as a mistake, arguing that the word would be “taken out of the context” by his critics.Academic research has since shown that children in schools that remained largely closed throughout the pandemic are, on average, six months behind the pre-pandemic baseline in maths.An analysis of test score data by researchers at Stanford and Harvard universities in January found that students had recovered around a third of lost learning, but some experts believe the missing time can never be fully replaced.
Anthony Fauci admits closing schools for a year during Covid…
