Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield said he is "absolutely" comfortable sending his grandchildren back to the classroom this fall even as coronavirus cases surge.
During a Wednesday appearance on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Redfield said he has concerns about one of his grandsons going back to school because he has cystic fibrosis.
“My other 10 grandchildren, eight of those are school-aged, 100% they can get back to school,” he said.
Across the country, parents are grappling with whether to send their kids back to the classrooms. Schools are working through reopening plans and how to keep teachers and children safe if they do go back to in-person learning.
“I think it's really important to get our schools open,” he said. “As I've said, it's not public health vs. opening the schools or the economy. It's public health vs. public health.”
Redfield added that “there really are a number of negative public health consequences that have happened to our K through 12s by having these schools close.”
“It's so important now to work together with school districts to figure out how they can take our guidelines and operationalize them in a practical way and to do it in a way that's safe for those that are vulnerable, particularly the teachers and those children,” he said.
He said face masks and social distancing will be important factors in reopening classrooms.
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