In its guidelines for kindergarten through 12th grade, the CDC said schools should only reopen after a sustained decrease in newly identified cases, and even then they should implement enhanced social distancing measures—such as closing cafeterias and playgrounds and serving meals in classrooms instead.
Once new cases drop to nearly zero, schools could move to looser distancing measures, such as staggering school drop-off times, the guidelines suggest.
The CDC’s document comes after nearly all 50 states have allowed some businesses to reopen.
President Donald Trump has said the nation needs to move forward with lifting restrictions in order to limit damage to an economy suffering its worst crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.