Clear As Mud, Tapper Grills CDC Director On The Science Behind Keeping School Closed [Video]

I'm usually at complete odds with the views of Jake Tapper at CNN, but for once- I can agree with him. The liberal media anchor drilled the CDC Director Rochelle Walensky to get a clear answer on if the United States can finally open its school, once and for all. The sidestepping Walensky double-talked her way into a politician-level of confusion, leaving Tapper completely baffled.

Tapper specifically reminded Walensky of her prior remark that “schools should be the last thing to close and the first thing to open.” He also keeps redirecting the CDC official back to the topic at hand. Can the schools open, or not?

“Really, what we have said in our guidance is that the amount of classroom activity really depends on the amount of spread in the community. We know that the amount of disease in the community is completely reflected as to what’s happening in school,” she said. “If there’s more disease in the community, there will be more in school, and that most disease in school does not come from in-school transmission, but comes from outside, from into the community. So, what we would advocate for is to have more kids in school, as our community spread comes down.”

“So, the CDC guidelines suggest schools could opt not to reopen in person classes if they’re in a red zone with the high community spread that you just referred to. According to our analysis of federal data, that includes 99 percent of American children,” Tapper said. “But you have said, quote, ‘There’s very little transmission happening in the schools.’ CDC researchers just wrote in ‘JAMA’ that quote, ‘There has been little evidence that schools have contributed meaningfully to increased community transmission.’ So, why give schools that opt not to open up?”

Walensky went through different recommendations that the administration is making based on what grade the students are in and said that in order for schools to fully reopen that there needed to be “universal masking” inside schools and a “strict six feet” of social distancing within classrooms.

“But what’s the science? Because you have said there’s, I mean, not just you, but Dr. Fauci, others have been saying for months that the schools should be opened as long as there’s masking and cleansing and social distancing, everything that we talked about,” Tapper said. “If a school is doing that, I understand if there’s a mask violation, that’s a problem. But if a school is doing that, I mean, the damage, as I don’t need to tell you, on kids, the isolation, the psychological damage, the educational loss of a year for many kids, not to mention the thousands of kids who are just slipping through the cracks, I mean, it’s hard to even calculate. And there are a lot of people out there watching who think, like, I thought the science said we should open the schools, as long as we take those safety steps. We’re taking the safety steps, and we’re not opening the schools.”

After several minutes of discussion, Tapper said that he was “dispirited after this conversation” because “I had high hopes that schools would be able to resume in person learning, because so many scientists and health officials, including you and Dr. Fauci and others, had been talking about the science supports opening the schools as much as possible.”

“I know that a lot of teachers are very concerned, and I know the teachers unions have been pushing back on this. But it sounds to me like you’re asking for 100 percent mask compliance and a number of measures that we’re never going to be able to achieve,” Tapper added. “And that makes me feel like, boy, I don’t know if the schools are ever going to open until everybody’s vaccinated.”

Watch

CNN’s Tapper grills the CDC director on school openings after the agency walks back their recommendation on opening; Tapper says their new “red areas,” where schools can opt out from opening, applies to 99 percent of students pic.twitter.com/rIsLIOazwT

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) February 15, 2021

I tell ya, keep an eye on this one. I wouldn't be surprised if she runs for office as a Democrat- maybe as House Speaker once Nancy Pelosi is finally put out to pasture.

Clear as mud...

If you're confused, you're not alone. As Tapper said, CDC director Walensky said it herself- the science supports reopening schools. Now she seems to be walking back that claim by adding the hundreds of stipulations and addendums here. She's successfully confused the situation further.

It's safe to reopening schools but not in red zones, also not all grade levels. Teachers need to be protected, but they're not a priority for vaccination...

Folks, we are a year into the full-scale pandemic. I think they should have clear, clean-cut, guidelines by now but it just seems more of the double-talking we witnessed in 2020. Is it wrong to expect an organization that receives approximately $6.8 billion in federal funding to lead the US through this mess to be better organized?

I don't think so. Let me hear your thoughts in the comments below.