Some Texas schools welcome students back this week, and one expert wonders how long those schools will stay open.
Some districts are battling the governor for the right to mandate masks. For example, the Fort Worth ISD has issued a mask mandate even though that goes against governor Abbott's orders.
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This is happening as the highly contagious Delta Covid-19 variant is everywhere. Dr. Peter Hotez with the Baylor College of Medicine says Delta is like nothing we've seen before. It's much more transmissible than the original strain. "Mother Nature is telling us what's going to happen. She told us what's happening now in Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida. We're seeing a lot of young people get hospitalized and go into pediatric intensive care units. That's even before school starts."
He says a lot of elected officials and people in charge may think this variant is like the original lineage. "We were able to claw our way through it last year. This is different. This Delta variant is three times more transmissible than anything we've seen."
He says if we're serious about giving kids a chance to have in-person classes "then we've got to use every tool available. Our tools are powerful. We should mandate vaccines for every child who is eligible, every child 12 and up. We have to do that. We also have to have all of the kids masked."
He's hoping vaccines will be approved later this year for kids younger than 12.
He believes schools will be forced back to virtual learning unless these steps are taken.
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