Something very unusual is going on with cdc.gov right now. Suddenly the CDC is promoting the opening of schools during the height of a pandemic, citing risks associated to nutrition and physical exercise and low risk of infection for children.

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CDCCenters for Disease Control and Prevention

This and seven other articles on school reopening were published in a 24 hour period on the CDC's website.

This comes about a week after the New York Times reported on the Trump Administration's interference of the CDC's gathering of hospital data.

The article is unusual not only in the political stance it takes on school reopening but the fact our government disease control agency takes one at all.

[Children] are far less likely to suffer severe symptoms. Death rates among school-aged children are much lower than among adults.  At the same time, the harms attributed to closed schools on the social, emotional, and behavioral health, economic well-being, and academic achievement of children, in both the short- and long-term, are well-known and significant.

At times, the article reads like a book on parenting. Again, this is coming from the Center for Disease Control.

In an in-person school environment, children more easily learn how to develop and maintain friendships, how to behave in groups, and how to interact and form relationships with people outside of their family.  In school, students are also able to access support systems needed to recognize and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, appreciate others’ perspectives, and make responsible decisions.  This helps reinforce children’s feelings of school connectedness, or their belief that teachers and other adults at school care about them and their well-being.

CDC Director Robert Redfield tweeted the recommendation earlier today leaving no shortage of comments from concerned parents and educators questioning the move.

The New York Times has published an excellent piece on this topic.

Experts on the subject at the C.D.C. were cut off from direct communication with the working group after their input on the statement was interpreted as being too cautious, the official said. Instead, the group communicated directly with the office of Dr. Robert R. Redfield, the C.D.C. director, which did seek input from experts at the agency. But the C.D.C. was by no means in charge