Pence 'absolutely' would send his children back to school despite spreading risk

Vice President Mike Pence says he and second lady Karen Pence would send their children back to school in the fall, claiming they would be unconcerned about them contracting coronavirus.

"We wouldn't hesitate to send them back to school," Mr Pence told reporters during a visit to hard-hit South Carolina.

The VP said he would send his now-grown children back to the classroom "because I've been looking at this data every day."

The Palmetto State has over 71,000 total cases since the pandemic hit the United States earlier this year. Over 13,000 of those have been recorded in the last 14 days, according to data compiled by the New York Times.

The state on 1 April had 210 new cases and a seven-day average of 124. That had dramatically shot up to 1,459 new cases on Monday and a seven-day average of 1,897 new cases daily.

"Without a serious underlying health conditions ...the risk of the coronavirus to young children," he said, " is very low."

That outlook ignores medical experts, including all of the White House coronavirus task force the VP leads, saying for months that children can carry the disease and pass it onto at-risk groups like seniors without ever getting sick. He also did not say how school systems would operate if older teachers opt against coming back in the fall, fearing the sometimes-deadly virus.

The vice president, ever willing to repeat Donald Trump's sometimes-data-ignoring narratives was undeterred – despite no longer having school-aged children at home.

"There are real costs when our kids are not in the classroom," Mr Pence said, citing school lunch programmes and help for children who experience trouble learning.

One local school official who spoke before Mr Pence took questions said lower-income children have been adversely impacted the most by online-only learning.

Mr Pence insisted as long as schools follow guidelines coming from the Trump administration the country can "safely" open schools. Those recommendations are expected to be released, he said, "in the coming days."

Last week he said they would be public by Friday, which came and passed without any such release.

Mr Trump has threatened school systems that do not reopen in the fall with federal funding, saying he will withhold it if kids are back in classrooms. The president is expected to again pressure school officials when he revives his regular coronavirus task force briefings at 5pm on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the president wants tens of billions of dollars included in a possible fifth Covid-19 recovery bill.

"We're looking at a number of things. But the president was very clear that he would like to see a payroll tax in there, along with liability protections, tax credits for businesses to bring people back to work and to have safe work environments, and of course, the $70 billion for schools to reopen safely," she said. "At least $70 billion."

Whether lawmakers and White House officials can reach a final deal is murky, as Senate Republicans are squabbling among themselves about the shape and size of any bill.