Robert Redfield, the former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, joined “The Story” Monday to discuss the nationwide rise in coronavirus cases.
The virologist told host Martha MacCallum that it’s “very clear” the U.S. is in the midst of a substantial increase in infection, noting that the delta variant is more infectious than the UK variant, and has the ability to transmit from human to human with “great ease.”
The former CDC director also addressed the possibility of children not going back to school and having another year of remote learning — stating that, even during the first shutdown, the public health interest of students K-12 was “to keep them in face-to-face learning.”
“There’s a variety of negative public health consequences that happened as a consequence of doing virtual learning. I think it’s imperative that we get the kids back to face-to-face learning and do all we can to keep them there.”
Redfield then took aim at CDC guidance on masking children in school and if there were studies to back up their recommendation, saying the policy should be “grounded in data rather than opinion.”
“There’s very few studies that really are compelling in that setting of the classroom.”