For months, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has had very specific advice, posted online, on how to keep children safe from COVID-19. Among other things, the agency recommended that parents have their children wash their hands regularly with soap and water, and keep them at least 6 feet away from others.
The CDC also clearly stated this online, in bold: “If children meet in groups, it can put everyone at risk.” But that comment was scrubbed from the CDC’s website just days before the organization released a controversial statement that in-person schooling should resume in the fall.
Now, the CDC’s website gives slightly different advice. While the agency still recommends that children stay “at least” 6 feet away from other people, it also includes more vague guidance about children being in the company of people outside their household. “An important guiding principle to remember is that the more people children interact with, and the longer that interaction, the higher the risk of COVID-19 spread,” the website reads. “While children may be spending time with other people as they return to daycare or school settings, it is important to remember that exposure to additional children and adults outside of daycare or school should be managed to decrease risk.”
The CDC then breaks down the level of risk associated with playdates — no in-person playdates are best; frequent indoor playdates have the highest level of risk — but the organization does not similarly break down risk level for school situations.
While these online changes have flown under the radar, people are now speaking out on social media about the CDC’s back-to-school stance, noting that it seemingly contradicts the agency’s advice on social distancing and other ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Given that President Trump has repeatedly said he wants in-person schools to resume — even threatening to “cut off funding” for schools that don’t reopen during the pandemic — many critics also cite politics as the reason for the CDC’s new recommendation. ♦
(The story originally published by Yahoo Life)
