SAN ANTONIO – Vice President Mike Pence addressed the ongoing coronavirus crisis in the U.S. and the climbing number of hospitalizations during a briefing on Wednesday morning.
He says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be issuing new guidance for the reopening of schools in the fall.
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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.
Read more: ‘A hot mess': Americans face testing delays as virus surges
Pence has led the task force since the beginning of the pandemic, but it slowly stopped daily briefings as states began reopening efforts. The briefings resumed in late June.
Pence’s update comes amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in Texas, which surpassed 10,000 new coronavirus cases in a single day on Tuesday. As of Tuesday, Texas has confirmed that at least 2,715 people have died due to COVID-19.
Across the U.S., the personal protective gear that was in dangerously short supply during the early weeks of the coronavirus crisis in the U.S. is running low again, according to the Associated Press.
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