Very few schools have taken those steps so far, and superintendents say that without national guidance, it is highly unlikely we’ll see a return of mass closures or mask mandates.
Still, conservatives are eager to find new examples of schools taking such COVID precautions and have been attacking the White House and the leader of the American Federation of Teachers union (AFT) for previous school closures and mask mandates.
Former White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci in a CNN interview said he hopes people would listen to advice from health officials, even if it means a recommendation to wear masks.
“I am concerned that people will not abide by recommendations,” he said. “I would hope that if we get to the point that the volume of cases is such and organizations like the CDC recommends — CDC does not mandate anything — recommends that people wear masks, I would hope that people abide by that recommendation and take into account the risks to themselves and their families.”
COVID guidance seems unlikely to come from government agencies, at least at the state and federal level, without the heft of public health emergencies to reinforce the need for such measures.
The onus for carrying out and enforcing viral mitigation practices has fallen on the shoulders of school administrators and individual workplaces, all of which have their own distinct level of risk tolerance.
Sterling Ransone, family physician and board chair of the American Academy of Family Physicians, cautioned that school administrators may find themselves in a “can’t win” position this year balancing the health of their students and staff with politicized blowback.
