WASHINGTON—U.S. schools shuttered by the CCP virus should pursue a carefully phased reopening only after public health benchmarks are met, and summer camps should be limited largely only to children from the immediate area, according to a new set of guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The new 60-page roapmap (pdf) was released late on Tuesday by the CDC to help states restaurants, schools, mass transit systems and other businesses safely reopen amid the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic.
In its guidelines for kindergarten through 12th grade, the CDC said schools should only reopen after a sustained decrease in newly identified cases, and even then they should implement enhanced social distancing measures—such as closing cafeterias and playgrounds and serving meals in classrooms instead.
Once new cases drop to nearly zero, schools could move to looser distancing measures, such as staggering school drop-off times, the guidelines suggest.
The CDC’s document comes after nearly all 50 states have allowed some businesses to reopen.
President Donald Trump has said the nation needs to move forward with lifting restrictions in order to limit damage to an economy suffering its worst crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Children are less likely to suffer from severe complications from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, than older adults, but public health experts say they can spread it to older and more vulnerable family members.
States have also reported cases of a sometimes fatal inflammatory syndrome in children that is believed to be linked to the coronavirus.
By Makini Brice
Epoch Times staff contributed to this report.
