Dr. Fauci optimistic about Rhode Island’s ability to open schools
PROVIDENCE -- The nation’s most well-known infectious disease expert said Rhode Island is well-positioned to open schools in person this fall.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Rhode Island is doing all of the right things to be ready to open up in-person learning next month.
He said Rhode Island is classified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a green state, which means the rate of positive infection is less than 5%. Yellow and red states have higher positivity rates.
“Rhode Island happens to be fortunately well into the green state,” he said during Gov. Gina Raimondo’s weekly Facebook forum with health experts. “You are starting from a very good place.”
Fauci, whose straightforward style and avuncular manner have made him a media darling, ticked off the things that Rhode Island has done right:
“Are you starting from a good place? The answer is yes. Do you understand how to mitigate infection? You’re OK. Do you have the capability to respond when you do get a positive case, the answer is yes.”
Raimondo asked Fauci to describe what a safe school looks like.
“What we have said in general is that are five or six things we should be doing,” he said. “Wearing masks. Social distancing. Avoiding crowds. Outdoors is better than indoors. Good ventilation. When children are outside, don’t let them congregate. Personal protective equipment.”
Fauci, like health experts before him, stressed the ripple effects that occur when students are not in school, including the psychological damage of separating children from their peers, the impact on parents who can’t return to work, and the increase in family trauma stemming from isolation.
The primary consideration, he said, should always be the health and safety of the children and their families.
“We have to try and get kids back to school.”
Raimondo asked Fauci what questions teachers and parents should ask before making a decision to allow their children to return to school.
Fauci offered the following answers: Is the school capable ahead of time of identifying a child who might be positive? Then decide if you want to test that child, and, if you do, keep him out of circulation until the test results are in.
Spend as much time as possible outside, he said, and when students are indoors, open the windows. Most so-called super-spreader events have occurred indoors.
When he’s in a car with someone else, he says, “I always keep a window open in the car even though we’re both wearing masks.”
Raimondo also fielded a question from a young woman: Putting politics aside, if you were reopening schools, what would your recommendation be?
“My feeling is if you are in a green zone, with a couple of simple things you can do that Rhode Island is doing,” to reopen. “To say all schools must open or all must close is not the correct approach. You have to be flexible. ... If you’re in a red zone, you have to be very careful. You may decide to hold off to see how things [turn] out.”
In general, Fauci urged people to be careful but he also said they don’t have to avoid any semblance of normal life.
“When I see people on the beach running with no one around, I think, ‘Good for them.’ You don’t need to be locked down. ... What I do, myself, every evening when I get home, my wife and I go out for a four-mile power jog, power walk, whatever you want to call it.”
During that time, he keeps his mask around his chin. If he sees someone coming, he pulls it over his nose and mouth.
Asked what he would say to teachers, who are anxious about returning to the classroom, Fauci said, wear your mask.
“We’re all in this together,” he said. “Your responsibility doesn’t end at the school door. If you want to keep schools open, do ... social distancing, no crowds, wash your hands frequently and you’ll be safe.”
“You have all been doing a good job,” Fauci said. ”Keep it up. It will end. A year from now, I hope we will be celebrating how we got through this together.”
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