May 13, 2020 - Health

Trump pushes for schools to reopen, despite caution from Fauci

Orion Rummler

In this image, President Trump sits — Trump speaks speaks with North Dakota and Colorado governors on May 13 in the White House. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

President Trump claimed on Wednesday that the novel coronavirus has "had very little impact on young people," and said that NIAD Director Anthony Fauci's caution on reopening schools was "not an acceptable answer" while meeting with governors at the White House.

Reality check: The CDC is spending more than $2 million to find out why some children are more vulnerable to the coronavirus, as kids in at least 15 states and five European countries have suffered from a severe inflammatory illness that could be linked to the virus.

Adults over 65 are most frequently hospitalized for COVID-19 compared to other age groups, CDC data show.
Early studies from China and the U.S. indicate that while children of all ages are at risk for the coronavirus, they have been experiencing milder complications from the disease than adults, per the CDC.

Yes, but: Fauci stressed in a hearing on Tuesday that "we're seeing things about what this virus can do that we didn't see from the studies in China or in Europe."

"...we don't know everything about this virus and we really better be very careful, particularly when it comes to children," he said in the Senate hearing.

"For example, right now children presenting with COVID-19 who actually have a very strange inflammatory syndrome very similar to Kawasaki syndrome. I think we better be careful if we are not cavalier in thinking that children are completely immune to the deleterious effects," he said.

Go deeper: K-12 schools face unprecedented options amid coronavirus pandemic

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Trump pushes for schools to reopen, despite caution from Fauci

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