Vice President Mike Pence says CDC will issue guidance for schools

WASHINGTON — Vice President Mike Pence says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be issuing new guidance for the reopening of schools in the fall.

School districts across the country are struggling with how to safely reopen as the coronavirus continues to surge in some states. The vice president, speaking after a meeting Wednesday of the White House coronavirus task force at the Education Department, called it “absolutely essential” for students to return to the classroom for in-person learning.

Pence announced plans for new CDC guidelines shortly after President Donald Trump took to Twitter to criticize the public health agency for asking schools “to do very impractical things.”

Pence pointed to a slowing coronavirus death rate nationally and early indications of positive tests flattening in Arizona, Florida and Texas. Those three states in recent weeks have seen some of the biggest spikes in coronavirus infections.