Trump Floats Reopening Schools Without Older Teachers

President Donald Trump talks to journalists after signing a proclamation honoring National Nurses Day in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington on May 6, 2020. Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he'd like to see schools open in much of the country.

Until the COVID-19 pandemic eases, though, teachers above a certain age should stay home, he told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House.

“I would say that until everything is perfect I think that the teachers that are a certain age—perhaps you say over 60, especially if they have a problem with heart or diabetes or any one of a number of things—I think that they should not be teaching school for a while,” he said.

Most CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus patients requiring hospital care are elderly or have underlying health conditions. The bulk of deaths are also among those groups.

The virus causes COVID-19, a disease that causes no symptoms in a significant percentage of patients and mild or moderate illness in others.

Trump made similar comments on Sunday during a virtual town hall.

“So when you go back—and you have one problem that is a bigger problem, and that’s teachers over 60 or 65 years old—the teachers,” he said. “We have to have our students go back to school. Because I really feel the students are in great shape.”

The president said he will urge colleges and schools across the nation to open back up in September.

Trump said Wednesday that children seem to be doing well, telling those assembled that children are strong.

Willow Creek School in Willow Creek, Mont., on May 4, 2020. Matt Volz/AP Photo

“Their immune system is maybe a little bit different, maybe just a little bit stronger,” he said. “Or maybe it’s a lot stronger, right? Could be a lot stronger. We’ve learned a lot by watching this monster.”

Researchers in China, where the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus started last year, found few children infected with the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19. Children who do become infected usually suffer mild illness, according to several studies.

Researchers in the United States said this week they’re launching a study to help determine the rate of infection in children and their family members.

The study is called Human Epidemiology and Response to SARS-CoV-2 (HEROS).

“One interesting feature of this novel coronavirus pandemic is that very few children have become sick with COVID-19 compared to adults,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Health and Infectious Disease (NIAID), said in a statement.

Dr. Anthony Fauci answers a question during a press conference as members of the administration look on, at the White House in Washington, on March 2, 2020. Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times

“Is this because children are resistant to infection with SARS-CoV-2, or because they are infected but do not develop symptoms? The HEROS study will help us begin to answer these and other key questions,” he added.

SARS-CoV-2 is another name for the CCP virus.

The team plans on enrolling 6,000 people from 2,000 families who are already participating in National Institutes of Health-funded pediatric research studies. The NIAID, which is part of the agency, is funding the study.

Most schools in America remain closed to in-person classes and some governors, including New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, have already said students won’t return this school year.

But a few governors have said schools can reopen with some social distancing measures in place, including Montana Gov. Steve Bullock and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem.

Noem’s reopening plan told superintendents to continue remote learning but consider a limited return to in-person instruction to “check-in” before the end of the school year.

Public schools in Idaho were also allowed to welcome students back for in-person instruction while Alabama officials are mulling a return to such instruction next month.