WATCH: John Oliver has some good insights into why schools should remain closed

'Schools do not exist in a vacuum' Oliver says.


Last week, Tonight Show host John Oliver tackled the subject of the reopening of schools. He addressed the Donald Trump administration’s adamance to reopen schools regardless of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recommendation to not reopen schools.

The United States is currently sitting on almost 4 million confirmed cases and over 140,000 deaths.

According to the World Health Organisation, schools should only reopen when a country is experiencing fewer community infections.

According to Oliver, the government’s justification for the reopening of schools does not hold any water. The belief that children are at low risk of serious illness is not absolute, and schools don’t only have children but adults as well.

“A third of K-12 teachers may be at higher risk… because they are over 50.”

Trump has threatened to defund schools that do not reopen schools, and secretary of state Mike Pence said: “We don’t want the guidance from the CDC to be the reason why schools don’t open.”

Trump recently tweeted that the guidelines from the CDC are “tough and expensive”.

Watch the full video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mox_ep669GI

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.

Read more on these topics

family Parenty reopening of schools school

Access premium news and stories

Access to the top content, vouchers and other member only benefits