CDC director Robert Redfield at the White House on May 15. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
The CDC recently released a new 60-page road map for states, restaurants, schools, child care programs, mass transit systems and other businesses to navigate reopening during the coronavirus pandemic.
Why it matters: The guidelines were published after nearly every state in the U.S. had already taken steps to at least reopen certain regions and industries that are seen as "low-risk" for spreading the virus, per a New York Times analysis.
Between the lines: The White House coronavirus task force asked the CDC to revise its original extensive reopening guidelines that the agency had prepared more than a month ago, believing they were "overly prescriptive," an administration official told Axios' Alayna Treene.
- Early versions of the rejected documents included detailed guidance for churches and religious institutions, which the White House requested to be taken out, according to AP.
- The newly released road map does not include a section for communities of faith and was published over the weekend, the New York Times reports. The CDC did not respond to a request for comment.
What's new: The road map offers hints at how ordinary parts of Americans' day-to-day lives may be changed in the aftermath of the coronavirus.
- In schools, the CDC recommends that meals should be served in classrooms instead of cafeterias. Teachers and children should be given daily temperature screenings.
- In restaurants, the CDC says that menus should be digital or disposable and that utensils and dishes should be disposable as well.
- When mass transit resumes service, routes should be adjusted between areas with high infection rates, when possible.
Go deeper: Read the CDC guidelines