Dr. Anthony Fauci admitted that keeping schools closed for an extended period during the COVID-19 pandemic was a “mistake,” acknowledging the negative impact on students.
While initially supporting closures to curb the spread, Fauci now recognizes the prolonged shutdown as problematic, advocating for a balance of safety and education.
The closure’s repercussions are evident in significant learning deficits among K-12 students, with marked declines in U.S. history, civics, math, and reading proficiency.
“I think what was not a mistake was the actual closure, because when we had a shutdown that 15 day to flatten the curve, we were in a tsunami of cases. Right here in New York, you had freezer trucks in front of Elmhurst Hospital,” Fauci said.
Fauci noted that “shutting down everything immediately … even schools was the right thing.”
“How long you kept it was the problem because there was a disparity throughout the country,” he said.
Fauci said he urged states to “close the bars, open the schools, open the schools as quickly and as safely as you possibly can.”
“But initially to close it down was correct,” he said. “Keeping it for a year was not a good idea.”
“So that was a mistake in retrospect? We will not repeat it?” a CBS anchor asked.
“Absolutely, yeah,” Fauci said.
Despite limited evidence of schools contributing to community transmission, closures persisted, driven partly by teachers’ unions.
The learning loss highlighted the urgent push for in-person education due to low COVID risks for children.
Notably, a 2021 CDC study revealed that “little evidence that schools have contributed meaningfully to increased community transmission.”