Fauci on school closures

 NY Post:

Fauci rewrites history, claims he ‘had nothing to do with’ COVID school closures

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The facts are that, from the very first, Fauci was calling for nationwide school closures. On March 12, 2020, for example, he said, “One thing I do advise … [is] mitigation. And what was done when you close the schools is mitigation.”

And he did not hesitate to criticize those who questioned his prescriptions, as when he slammed Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis on April 12 for merely remarking that he wanted to get schools back open as soon as possible. Fauci responded by saying that opening the schools would get children infected with the coronavirus. “If you have a situation where you don’t have real good control over an outbreak and you allow children together, they will likely get infected.” Fauci insisted.
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Schools, which are hotbeds of transmission for the annual influenza, were not hotbeds of transmission for COVID. We know this because, while Sweden did not close its schools, this had “no measurable effect on the numbers of cases of COVID-19 among children”, nor did it produce any “increased risk for teachers.”

Typically for the wizened virus master, Fauci tries to have it both ways. Even as he denies having anything to do with school closures, he still claims that it was the right thing to do because it saved lives. “The idea that this virus doesn’t afflict children is not so,” he told ABC News. “We’ve already lost close to 1,500 kids so far.”

Except, we haven’t.

Fauci’s number is based on a May 2022 study claiming that COVID was responsible for 1,433 deaths among persons 19 and younger. Critics pointed out that the authors had wrongly counted hundreds who had died with COVID, but not from COVID. The authors admitted their error the following month, but Fauci apparently didn’t get the memo.

But it is his continuing denials—in the face of overwhelming evidence—that the school closures caused any lasting harm that really raised my blood pressure. I have grandchildren who clearly suffered a learning loss. Besides the dramatic drop in reading, writing and arithmetic skills, the social isolation also harmed kids, and some now have mental health issues as a result.
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He may not have personally closed schools but he certainly supported those who did.  It was clearly a mistake to close schools and DeSantis certainly proved him and others who supported the closure wrong. 

See, also:

‘Appalling’ Scores on National Exam Show Extent of Covid’s Toll on Students

The results, from what is known as the nation’s report card, offer the most definitive picture yet of the pandemic’s devastating effects on students.