WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd August, 2020) The novel coronavirus spike sent support plunging among parents in the United States for re-opening schools this fall by 20 percentage points since early June, a new Gallup Poll revealed on Monday.
"In late May and early June, a majority of 56 percent of K-12 [Kindergarten through grade 12] parents wanted full-time in-person school this fall. Now, 36 percent prefer this option. Meanwhile, 28 percent of parents, up from 7 percent in the prior survey, prefer full-time remote instruction," the release said.
The remainder, 36 percent, favor a hybrid system of part in-person teaching and part distance learning, the release added.
A summer surge in cases has pushed the US death toll to nearly 155,000 with White House coronavirus task force coordinator Deborah Birx warning over the weekend that the United States faces a new phase in the pandemic with the disease spreading from cities further into rural areas.
As a result, school districts have scaled back plans to re-open classrooms in September, even on a part time basis, by announcing students will remain at home and complete course work on line until further notice.
The shift comes amid new evidence cited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that children, while less threatened by the virus, nevertheless readily contract it and often become asymptomatic spreaders of the disease.
