CDC releases delayed guidance on reopening
The CDC on Thursday released previously withheld guidance documents on reopening schools, restaurants and other places, one week after the White House ordered the agency to revise an earlier draft it deemed “too prescriptive."
The new CDC guidelines provide brief checklists meant to help key businesses and others operating in public reopen safely. In separate one-page documents, the CDC offers decision-making tools for schools, workplaces, camps, child care programs, mass transit systems and bars and restaurants.
The White House previously rejected a 17-page CDC draft that issued detailed recommendations for safely reopening, The Associated Press reported last week. A White House spokesperson at the time said the guide didn't comport with President Donald Trump's strategy of putting states in charge of reopening decisions.
The new guidance comes as dozens of governors, to varying degrees, have begun easing restrictions on businesses and social activities. Some states like Michigan and New Jersey are still under strict stay-at-home orders, while Georgia residents can get haircuts at salons and Texans are going back to movie theaters.
But public health experts — and even administration health officials — have disputed the notion that pockets of the country are ready to completely reopen their businesses and economies. The nation’s top infectious disease expert this week warned that reopening the country too early could yield “really serious” consequences if states don’t have the capacity to respond to new infections.
Last month, the White House set basic benchmarks for states to begin lifting their social distancing requirements, but most states have yet to meet that criteria.