We have to get kids back to school, right? That's what the Trump regime has been saying for months, but now that going back to school is leading to new outbreaks of the coronavirus, they're telling schools to not send kids back home with it.
This isn't something the White House is saying publicly but, during a conference call with state governments yesterday, members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force asked governors to keep infected kids at school or else we'll see a third surge.
“We know that what happened across the South [in June] was primarily driven by 18-to-25 year olds, across the South, with asymptomatic spread,” said Dr. Deborah Birx, the Coronavirus Response Coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force. “Sending these individuals back home in their asymptomatic state to spread the virus in their home town or among their vulnerable households could really recreate what we experienced over the June time frame in the south. So I think every university president should have a plan for not only testing but caring for their students that need to isolate.”
You know, this would be a great time to remind everyone that House Democrats passed a stimulus bill in May that included money for schools, states, and local governments. It's now September and Senate Republicans have taken zero action on a stimulus bill of their own much less a compromise bill.
The Trump White House is calling on schools to take on even more financial burdens without offering any material support for it. And we saw this coming.
Because the White House is only just now saying this, and because it's now September, some schools have already sent kids back home. Some schools, such as the University of North Carolina, sent kids back home with the virus weeks ago.
It will be a minor miracle if we don't see another surge of infections over the next two to three months just like we did in June and July after prematurely reopening the economy.
There's an outbreak of over 770 active cases at the University of Dayton campus about 15 minutes away from me.