Donald Trump Wants Schools To Reopen Soon

Donald Trump wants schools in the U.S. to reopen ASAP despite the high number of coronavirus cases in the country. His call to reopen schools was allegedly inspired by comments recently made by British political adviser and commentator Steve Hilton about the reopening of schools during the pandemic.

In a tweet on Sunday, Donald Trump said schools that were forced to close down due to the COVID-19 pandemic should reopen soon. “Schools in our country should be opened ASAP,” he wrote. “Much very good information now available,” he added, tagging Hilton.

In a Fox interview last week, Hilton said the only way the U.S. could recover from the pandemic is by reopening schools. “If children can’t go to school, parents can’t go to work,” he said. “We’re told schools must be closed to keep kids safe. But they’re not in danger. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, children under 18 make up only 2% of cases and 0.67% of hospitalizations. Children under 14 make up just 0.02% of deaths,” he added.

Hilton also tried to shut down fears of sending children to school during the pandemic by citing a study conducted by deCODE genetics, which had found that compared with adults, children are less likely to transmit coronavirus to others. The CEO of the Icelandic company claimed that children below 10 are less likely to get infected with the virus. Even if they catch the disease, they are less likely to get critically ill.

“What is interesting is that even if children do get infected, they are less likely to transmit the disease to others than adults," said Kari Stefansson.

Despite Trump’s call to reopen schools, a new poll suggests that most Americans believe it is not yet safe to send children back to school. Conducted by the Quinnipiac University, the poll found that 52% of residents in the U.S. feel it would still be unsafe to reopen schools. The vast majority who said no to the reopening were Democrats.