Health secretary Azar wrongly claims 'health-care workers don't get infected' in argument for reopening schools


White House officials, including Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and Coronavirus Response Coordinator Deborah Birx held a panel on Tuesday to discuss reopening schools this fall. Azar seemed confident about reopening schools with proper precautions come September, but gave a dangerous and downright false explanation for why he supports doing so.
"Health-care workers don't get infected because they take appropriate precautions. They engage in social distancing, wear facial coverings," Azar explained Tuesday, saying if "you can do all of this, there's no reason schools have to be in any way any different." But Azar's claim simply isn't true. Thousands of health-care workers have tested positive for COVID-19 and hundreds have died of the virus, though there's no official count of just how many have contracted the disease. Those are also trained health-care professionals — children surrounded by friends they haven't seen in months surely won't be as disciplined when it comes to social distancing and school staff lack the training and expertise of nurses and doctors.
President Trump demanded "schools must open in the fall" in a Monday tweet, and DeVos responded that he was "absolutely right." Trump's tweet came not long after Harvard University and other colleges began announcing their intentions to go fully remote this fall. Trump will deliver remarks on reopening schools later Tuesday.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Taking aim at Venezuela’s autocrat
Feature The Trump administration is ramping up military pressure on Nicolás Maduro. Is he a threat to the U.S.?
-
Comey indictment: Is the justice system broken?
Feature U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan has indicted former FBI Director James Comey on charges of lying and obstructing Congress
-
Government shuts down amid partisan deadlock
Feature As Democrats and Republicans clash over health care and spending, the shutdown leaves 750,000 federal workers in limbo
-
FDA OKs generic abortion pill, riling the right
Speed Read The drug in question is a generic version of mifepristone, used to carry out two-thirds of US abortions
-
RFK Jr. vaccine panel advises restricting MMRV shot
Speed Read The committee voted to restrict access to a childhood vaccine against chickenpox
-
Texas declares end to measles outbreak
Speed Read The vaccine-preventable disease is still spreading in neighboring states, Mexico and Canada
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agency
Speed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year high
Speed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, change
Speed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panel
speed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kids
Speed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials