CDC posts more detailed guidelines for reopening country

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Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday released new guidance for schools, businesses and other organizations as states begin to gradually reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The CDC posted six one-page “Decision Tool” documents on its website that use traffic signals and other graphics to guide businesses on how to safely reopen.

The tools are for schools, workplaces, camps, childcare centers, mass transit systems, and bars and restaurants. The CDC originally also authored a document for churches and other religious facilities, but that wasn't posted Thursday.

Many of the tools include the use of social distancing, regulating the number of people who can be inside a business, and practicing smart hygiene and cleaning practices.

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Earlier versions of the documents included detailed information for churches wanting to restart in-person services, with suggestions including maintaining distance between parishioners and limiting the size of gatherings. The faith-related guidance was taken out after the White House raised concerns about the recommended restrictions, according to government emails obtained by The Associated Press and a person inside the agency who didn’t have permission to talk with reporters and spoke on condition of anonymity.

On Thursday, a Trump administration official -- also speaking on the condition of anonymity -- said there were concerns about the propriety of the government making specific dictates to places of worship. The CDC had originally drafted the guidance more than a month ago, but it was shelved by the White House.

The agency had also prepared even more extensive guidance -- about 57 pages of it -- that has not been posted.

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That longer document would give different organizations specifics about how to reopen while still limiting the spread of the virus, including by spacing workers or students 6 feet apart and closing break rooms and cafeterias to limit gatherings. Many of the suggestions already appear on federal websites, but they haven't been presented as reopening advice.

Some health experts and politicians have been pushing for the CDC to release as much guidance as possible to help businesses and organizations decide how to proceed.

“They want to be able to tell their own employees the guidance of the federal government," Dr. Tom Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins University, said at a congressional hearing Wednesday. "They want to be able to tell their customers, ‘We’ve done everything that’s been asked of us.’”

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The guidance relates to another document released by the Trump administration on April 17. That phased-in reopening plan broadly outlines how to move away from stay-at-home orders, school closures and other measures designed to stop the spread of the new coronavirus that has caused more than 1.3 million reported U.S. illnesses and more than 80,000 deaths.

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Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Wednesday offered a resolution -- blocked by Republicans -- to encourage the release of all the documents.

“America needs and must have the candid guidance of our best scientists unfiltered, unedited, uncensored by president Trump or his political minions. The CDC report on reopening the country is an important piece of that guidance,” Schumer said.

Fox News’ John Roberts and The Associated Press contributed to this report.