Rhode Island’s reopening of child-care programs shows "there is a path," CDC director says

The study of Rhode Island child-care centers by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is evidence that child-care centers and schools can safely reopen despite the pandemic, said CDC Director Robert Redfield.

“When things are done with vigilance, in partnership with the public health community, that you can in fact … be able to reopen child care and not have significant secondary transmission,” Redfield said during a briefing Friday with reporters.

The study involved child-care programs that had been shuttered for three months. The state allowed them to reopen June 1 because cases of covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, had dropped significantly. By July 31, 666 programs had been approved to care for about 19,000 children.