Governor Mike Parson of Missouri downplayed the major risk for children who may get the coronavirus from school when it reopens. The Republican governor insisted that children are going to get over it.
Reopening of schools
On July 17, Gov. Parson said in an interview with radio host Marc Cox on KFTK that children have to get back to school. He said that children are at the lowest risk possible and if they do get COVID-19 they are not going to the hospitals.
Parson said that children are going to go home and get over it. Gov. Parson continued that the United States needs to move on and can't let COVID-19 stop "us in our tracks." He was immediately criticized as the debate over school reopening has spread nationwide.
The COVID-19 patients in the United States continue to rise, with more than 15,000 people reported in one day.
Medical experts have expressed their concerns about the reopening of schools because students may get infected with the virus or they could be carriers and infect their older relatives.Teachers and school staff also expressed concern for the safety of the children and their own safety.
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State Auditor and Democratic candidate for governor, Nicole Galloway, said that Gov. Parson's comments on COVID-19 and children showed "stunning ignorance." Galloway also said that the pandemic does not stop with just the children.
The bus drivers, teachers, food service workers, janitors, grandparents, parents, and neighbors that the children interact with every day are susceptible to COVID-19. A plan must be made to keep the families in Missouri safe.
Dr. Alex Garza, from St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force, said that even though children have strong immune systems, the adults that the children are with every day are high risk.
What medical experts are trying to avoid is that the children could carry the virus and infect the people in their household.
As of July 20, around 4 million COVID-19 cases and 141,000 deaths have been recorded in the United States, according to John Hopkins.
In Missouri, 530 new cases of COVID-19 were reported on July 20 and 1,132 deaths were recorded, according to Missouri's Department of Health.
The Kaiser Family Foundation released an analysis and found that 1 in 4 teachers are at risk of getting COVID-19 and they could become seriously ill since they have pre-existing health conditions.
There are around 3 million people over the age of 65 who has children in their household, they will get infected if the child becomes a carrier.
Trump's push
The Trump administration has been insisting that children should go back to school and the pandemic should not be a hindrance. In fact, they are pressuring the schools to reopen, because they believe that children under the age of 18 are considered "low risk."
On July 19, President Donald Trump told Fox News host Chris Wallace in an interview that children have to go back to school and said that schools that will not reopen will not be funded by the government.
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