The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention release five key mitigation practices to safely reopen schools and stem the spread of the coronavirus, giving guidance to school systems around the country, CNN reports.
Notably, the CDC guidelines state that vaccines for students, teachers, administrators and school staff are not a prerequisite for reopening schools, a point of contention with teachers unions.
The report notes that the five key components to safely opening schools are the universal and correct wearing of masks; physical distancing; washing hands; cleaning facilities and improving ventilation; and doing contact tracing, isolation, and quarantining.
“I want to be clear, with this operational strategy, CDC is not mandating that schools reopen. These recommendations simply provide schools a long-needed roadmap for how to do so safely under different levels of disease in the community,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a news briefing on Friday.
President Biden has stated that a goal of his administration is to reopen schools, at least partially, within 100 days of taking office. That would put the target date at May 1st.