By that afternoon, Vice President Mike Pence was before the cameras with Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, announcing that the CDC and Dr. Redfield -- a political appointee -- would issue new guidance by next week, including a set of five new documents.
\"They must fully open, and they must be fully operational and how that happens is best left to education and community leaders,\" DeVos said of schools.
Redfield offered: \"We really don’t have evidence that children are driving the transmission cycle of this.\"
Redfield later told ABC’s \"Good Morning America\" that \"our guidelines are our guidelines but we are going to provide additional reference documents.\" He said he was concerned his agency’s initial advice was being used \"as a rationale\" to keep schools closed and said \"these decisions about schools are local decisions.\"
When asked if the White House had pressured the CDC to change its public health advice for political reasons, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters Wednesday: \"No, not at all. But the president made his opinion quite clear publicly this morning on Twitter for all to see.\"
What to know about coronavirus:
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