NBC News/Today
- Former-CDC acting director Richard Besser said he expects schools "will be forced to shut down" more this year due to COVID-19.
- "I think this fall is going to be really challenging for schools," Besser said on NBC News' "Today" show.
- There has been an uptick in child COVID-19 cases across the US.
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School buildings across the US may be "forced to shut down" more this year than last year as COVID-19 cases continue to spike throughout the country, a former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official said Tuesday.
Former-CDC acting director Richard Besser explained during an interview on NBC News' "Today" show that with the highly transmissible Delta variant being the dominant coronavirus strain in the country, "I expect that it's going to jump around different classrooms and schools will be forced to shut down more than they did in fact last year."
Last year, at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, school buildings across the nation closed their doors and switched over to remote learning.
"I think this fall is going to be really challenging for schools," Besser said. "I think children belong in the classroom. But what we're going to see is little [COVID-19] outbreaks, clusters in different schools, schools shutting down, reopening."
Besser added, "The more we can do to reduce the number of times that happens, the better. And wearing masks for everyone will help to accomplish that."
There is no COVID-19 vaccine approved yet for children under the age of 12, and Besser encouraged parents themselves to get inoculated against the virus in order to protect the children.
"That's the most important thing you can do to protect your child," Besser said of vaccination. "But what we're going to see is schools doing their best to keep children in the classroom, but recognizing when there's significant spreading in school, they may need to shut down for a period of time to let things cool down."
There has been an uptick in child COVID-19 cases, according to a newly released weekly report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association.
Nearly 94,000 new child coronavirus cases were recorded last week, according to the report, which noted that it's "a continuing substantial increase."
"After declining in early summer, child cases have steadily increased since the beginning of July," the American Academy of Pediatrics said.